PPG VOLUME III - Demon (threequel to PPG Family by limberj)
by Limberj
Summary: In the first novel we followed Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup (Beatrice, Rebecca and Brooke) as normal teenagers with normal problems, such as partying too hard, falling in love with the wrong boys etc. Oh, and Becca got pregnant. In the second novel something slowly started to grow between Betty and Luke (red RRB), but something happened, and him and Liam (green) declared war.
1. Facts about the characters

Hi!  
New Novel.  
The last one in this trilogy! Wow... please comment and follow! :) Thank you for reading!

* * *

**Facts about the characters**

**Professor John Utonium**  
**Birthday:** May 4, 1960  
**Height**: 185 cm (6 ft.)  
**Eye** **color**: Blue  
**Hair** **color**: Black  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Mother: Arabella, deceased father: George, Brother: Eugene, Daughters: Beatrice, Rebecca and Brooke, deceased daughter: Bunny

**(Blossom) Beatrice "Betty" Utonium**  
**Birthday**: August 22, 1992 ("born" 1998)  
**Height**: 165 cm (5 ft. 4")  
**Eye** **color**: Pink  
**Hair** **color**: Ginger  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Grandmother: Arabella, Father: John, Sisters: Rebecca and Brooke, Uncle: Euegene, deceased sister: Bunny  
**Special** **Power(s)**: Temperature/weather changing, Ice breath, Pink laser beams from eyes, Pink fire breathing

**(Buttercup) Brooke Utonium**  
**Birthday**: August 22, 1992 ("born" 1998)  
**Height**: 160 cm (5 ft. 2")  
**Eye** **color**: Light green  
**Hair** **color**: Black  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Grandmother: Arabella, Father: John, Sisters: Beatrice and Rebecca, Uncle: Eugene, deceased sister: Bunny  
**Special** **Power(s)**: Rub hands together until creating a green fireball, Green laser beams from eyes

**(Bubbles) Rebecca "Becca" Utonium**  
**Birthday**: August 22, 1992 ("born" 1998)  
**Height**: 167 cm (5 ft. 5")  
**Eye** **color**: Light blue  
**Hair** **color**: Blonde  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Grandmother: Arabella, Father: John, Sisters: Beatrice and Brooke, Uncle: Eugene, deceased sister: Bunny  
**Special** **Power(s)**: Ability to talk to animals, Super scream, Blue laser beams from eyes, Blue fire breathing

**Arabella Utonium**  
**Birthday**: March 12, 1941  
**Height**: 155 cm (5 ft. 1")  
**Eye** **color**: Blue  
**Hair** **color**: Grey (dyed dark brown/dark red)  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: deceased husband: George, Sons: John and Eugene, Granddaughters: Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, deceased granddaughter: Bunny

**(Brick) Luke Berger**  
**Birthday**: April 9, 1992 (was created December 1998, then again April 1999, one year older)  
**Height**: 178 cm (5 ft. 10")  
**Eye** **color**: Red  
**Hair** **color**: Auburn  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Adoptive parents: Charles and Daniella, Brothers: Liam and Leo  
**Special** **Power(s)**: -A-b-i-l-i-t-y -t-o- -o-p-e-n- -l-o-c-k-e-d- -d-o-o-r-s-, -I-n-v-i-s-i-b-i-l-i-t-y-, fastest of them all although he can't fly  
**Other**: Southern accent (Texan), can't fly

**(Butch) Liam Berger**  
**Birthday**: April 9, 1992 (was created December 1998, then again April 1999, one year older)  
**Height**: 204 cm (6 ft. 8")  
**Eye** **color**: Dark green  
**Hair** **color**: Black  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Adoptive parents: Charles and Daniella, Brothers: Luke and Leo  
**Special** **Power(s)**: Ability to open locked doors, Strength, Total Invisibility, Telekinesis, can erase memories  
**Other**: Southern accent (Texan), sees and talks to his dead best friend

**(Boomer) Leo Berger**  
**Birthday**: April 9, 1992 (was created December 1998, then again April 1999, one year older)  
**Height**: 190 cm (6 ft. 2")  
**Eye** **color**: Dark blue  
**Hair** **color**: Honey blonde  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Adoptive parents: Charles and Daniella, Brothers: Luke and Liam  
**Special** **Power(s)**: Ability to open locked doors, Ability to talk to animals  
**Other**: Southern accent (Texan)

**Dainton Hannigan**  
**Birthday**: January 20, 1991  
**Height**: 186 cm (6 ft. 1")  
**Eye** **color**: Blue  
**Hair** **color**: Dark blonde  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Father: Hank, Sisters: Wendela and Veronica

**Mathilda Turner**  
**Birthday**: April 8, 1992  
**Height**: 172 cm (5 ft. 7")  
**Eye** **color**: Brown  
**Hair** **color**: Black  
**Ethnicity**: Native American  
**Family**: Unknown

**Ginger Campbell**  
**Birthday**: December 7, 1992  
**Height**: 159 cm (5 ft. 2")  
**Eye** **color**: Green  
**Hair** **color**: Light brown  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Unknown

**Henrietta Price**  
**Birthday**: July 26, 1992  
**Height**: 167 cm (5 ft. 5")  
**Eye** **color**: Blue  
**Hair** **color**: Blonde (dyed black with pink ends)  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Unknown

**Jessica Ishihara**  
**Birthday**: September 21, 1992  
**Height**: 162 cm (5 ft. 3")  
**Eye** **color**: Brown  
**Hair** **color**: Black  
**Ethnicity**: Japanese/American  
**Family**: Unknown

**Robin Snyder**  
**Birthday**: March 13, 1992  
**Height**: 165 cm (5 ft. 4")  
**Eye** **color**: Blue  
**Hair** **color**: Brown  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Brother: Christopher Snyder

**Matilda "Tilly" West**  
**Birthday**: October 10, 1992  
**Height**: 168 cm (5 ft. 6")  
**Eye** **color**: Blue  
**Hair** **color**: Redish blonde  
**Ethnicity**: American/Norwegian  
**Family**: Unknown

**Zac Jones**  
**Birthday**: July 14, 1992  
**Height**: 182 cm  
**Eye** **color**: Ice blue  
**Hair** **color**: Black (dyed, natural blonde)  
**Ethnicity**: American  
**Family**: Mother: Irene, Brother: Gordon, Sister: Jenna

**Irene Jones**  
**Birthday: **April 4, 1977  
**Height: **170 cm (5 ft. 6")  
**Eye color: **Ice blue  
**Hair color: **Blonde  
**Ethnicity: **American  
**Family: **Sons: Zac and Gordon

**Gordon Jones**  
**Birthday: **June 29, 1993  
**Height: **189 cm (6 ft. 2")  
**Eye color: **Ice blue  
**Hair color: **Blonde  
**Ethnicity: **American  
**Family: **Mother: Irene, Brother: Zac, Sister: Jenna

**Sam Bailey**  
**Birthday: **January 19, 1991  
**Height: **189 cm (6 ft. 2")  
**Eye color: **Yellowish brown  
**Hair color: **Auburn (tilting to dark brown)  
**Ethnicity: **Irish  
**Family: **Brother: Andrew, Sisters: Spring, Summer and Autumn, Mother  
**Other:** Irish accent, look like a model

**Charles Berger**  
**Birthday: **March 4, 1965  
**Height: **176 cm (5 ft. 7")  
**Eye color: **Green  
**Hair color: **Brown  
**Ethnicity: **American  
**Family: **Wife: Daniella, Sons: Luke, Liam and Leo  
**Other: **Southern accent (Texan)


	2. Chapter 1 - Eight days later

**Eight days later**

**The narrator**  
The city of Forestville!

In the middle of the forest outside Townsville's borders there is a community called "Forestville"; here are the people who need to unwind and move away from the big city life, those of us who just want peace and quiet.

But in one of the houses, as we speak, two troubled families are living together; but it's not the merging that's worrying them... The past week had been like a roller coaster for Professor Utonium, his new wife and her sons, and for the Powerpuff girls; Beatrice, Brooke and Rebecca, with more uphill slopes than downhill. The slopes were usually slow, sluggish and hard; and once there was a downhill; it went fast, pioneering fast. None of them had slept or relaxed properly in the last few days; they were all at the ready, constantly prepared, constantly on full range. Every time someone in the family opened a door or happened to move a little too fast, everyone in the direct presence jumped.

In other words; no peace and quiet, for being the calm forest community beyond the busy cities.

**Bubbles**  
_Wednesday, November 17__th__, 2010_  
I followed Professor down the stairs to the lab one early afternoon with a brand new thirty two inch flat screen TV. The ECG machine told us that Luke's heartbeat was regular now, his breathing as well. He looked up from the newspaper I gave him half an hour ago, and smiled apologetically at us.

"A television?" He asked curiously.

"You said you were bored." I said, smiling back just as carefully.

"How are you today, Luke? Do you feel tired, dizzy?" Professor asked formally and walked over to him to check on the drip.

"I'm fine." Luke replied. "A bit hungry, maybe..." he said a little quieter, as if he was ashamed to have even pointed it out.

"I'll send down some lunch in a moment." said Professor after carefully pulling out the needle that had been inside his arm; the drip. "You won't need this anymore."

"Thank you." Luke said as earnestly as he could. "How long am I gonna be connected to the ECG?"

"Ideally, you should be linked to it for twenty-four hours after you wake up, and you woke up..." he looked at his wristwatch. "... almost exactly thirteen hours ago. Tomorrow I'll disconnect it and analyze it to see if your heart rate is as regular during your sleep as it is now."

"Okay... Thank you." Luke mumbled, shyly looking away, biting the inside of his cheek.

Professor nodded to him and then left the room while I plugged the cables into the TV, and then turned to follow him out.

"Becca?" I heard Luke behind me.

I turned to face him - the adjustable bed allowed him to sit halfway up - walked slowly to the bed and placed the remote directly in his left hand; he had a cast on his right arm and didn't seem to be able to move those fingers at all.

"Thanks..." he whispered, but before I could leave he said; "Hey... forgive me for what I did. I can't even imagine how scared you must have been..." I sat down on the folding chair next to the bed without looking at him, so he continued: "How... how is he doing?"

"He's fine." I answered dryly.

"And how's... Leo?"

I understood that his question was more about whether Leo was angry with him or not. "He feels like the rest of us... a little jumpy."

"I wish I could help you." he whispered, still with the remote control hanging loosely in his hand in front of him.

I looked at his disfigured face; the tear across the face started from his forehead and went all the way down to just below his chin; the right eye seemed to hang a little more than the left; The right side of his mouth pointed downward in a permanent up-side-down smile, and his right eyebrow would forever lack some hair where the scar went through it.

"You already have." I said.

"By keeping myself out of the way..." he nodded in agreement; it was a statement, not a question.

"No… You helped us; you never intended to hurt George. I saw you." He still looked into my eyes, remembering. "You protected him every time anyone came too close; and when Liam shot the laser towards you; you turned your back on him; with the baby as far away from him as possible; and tried to escape. You were going to sacrifice yourself for him."

Luke laughed sadly. "You have no idea how happy I am that someone noticed... But it doesn't justify-"

"No... it doesn't, but I knew he was _safe_."

Leo was suddenly behind me with one hand on my shoulder (a shudder of shock spread through my body, but I pretended as if I hadn't reacted at all); I assumed he wanted to keep an eye on Luke because I was down here alone with him. Luke looked stiffly into his brother's eyes, not daring to say anything.

"Betty told us you saved her from Liam." I said head-on, as if I hadn't even noticed that Leo had entered the room, and I also wanted _him_ to hear this. "You hit him in the eyes with a laser just as he was about to punch her."

Luke looked at me again, with shiny eyes, and began to breathe jerkily, nervously. "I wasn't going to let him hurt her."

"And you weren't going to let him hurt George, either." I said. I glanced at Leo behind me and then turned to Luke again, felt my eyes starting to sting. "Even though you took him away from us; even though you had taken Chemical X and fought on Liam's side; I felt calm about that it was _you_ who held George; felt relieved that he wasn't in the stroller with his brother."

Leo snorted behind me.

I hadn't told my innermost thoughts to anyone, so I continued; "George was much safer with you than he had been with us that day. It was Eugene and Leo I worried about; but George was safe, because you protected him."

Luke looked down at his blanket, and then up at Leo again as he said; "I'm sorry, Leo. I mean it. I would do anything to make you believe me when I say-"

"_Anything_?" Leo challenged him angrily; it was an echo from eight days back.

I sighed and looked down at the floor; Leo wasn't going to forgive him that easily.

"This time I mean it. I wish I could undo this whole- "

"But you can't." Leo answered quickly. "The only thing you can do is lie there; in your own filth with the memories of what you have done. Since I can't kick you out I will have to live with you under the same roof; but I won't leave you alone with my girlfriend or anyone in this house ever again. Maybe they have forgiven you; but _I_ could never trust someone like you; a _murderer_." Leo squeezed my shoulders loosely, another chill was sent through my spine after his words toward Luke. "Brooke took over instead of me so I'll go to bed now." He kissed me quickly on my cheek, and one second later he was gone.

**Buttercup**  
The sun was shining bright above the trees to the northeast, it wasn't really hot outside; with the wind blowing, but it was warm enough for me not to start freezing. I sat on the roof of the house and looked over the forest, the lake, the mountains and the sky; listened to the smallest sound; tried to feel some aberrant scent. Immediately after waking from my joke to sleep, I flew up and sat here and started scouting with all my senses on at the ready - of course without any rest at all.

Professor was worried about me; he pointed it out daily; and wanted me to try to rest and eat more; even talk more. Firstly; I was too excited to relax. Secondly; I was not hungry, and thirdly; there was nothing to talk _about_. At the same time, Irene was constantly trying to bargain me a lot of food even though I kindly declined the times I wasn't hungry. Becca wanted me to talk about my feelings with her; as if she were some kind of shrink.

"_You have to let go of your feelings for it to get better; you'll just get sick of being indifferent to this; of holding such strong emotions inside you._" she had said.

What did she want me to release? Anger? Sorrow? Recognize my humiliation?

I didn't _want_ to do that right now; I have more important things to do; and that is to protect my family from a psychopathic, emotionless, unconscious, soulless demon.

I heard something that clicked and crackled fifty feet away from me and I quickly looked there with both my hearing and my vision on full. The sound had come from a piece of gravel bouncing against the roof tiles of the guesthouse; where Betty sat staring at me with frightened eyes.

"Sorry..." she whispered. "It came off of from my shoe."

I went back to continue to look out over the forest area and the mountains around me. While Professor was worried about my sleep; Becca over my mental health and Irene over my physical; Betty was the only one who let me be. That's why I'd rather keep watch with her; _she_ wasn't constantly trying to get in my face. Leo was serious about it as well, though; just sitting quiet and watching, but it was like Becca had made him start to look at me differently; as if I had been a victim of war. So he was scratched from my keeping-guard-together-list.

All I wanted was to be left alone with my business - I didn't have time for a nervous breakdown right now.

**Professor**  
It was Wednesday afternoon; I was standing inside the new chamber I had designed, to build an extra room, like a panic room; where Luke could sleep instead of in a corner of the lab. Had it not been for his spine and that he should preferably not be moved at all, then I would have sent him up to the house immediately. Brooke and Leo made an opening in the wall down in the lab and then began to dig a square hole underneath the house. The constructors we had hired is getting here tomorrow to lay the foundations and floors, and build the walls and the roof. With the help of superpowers everything was possible.

"Thank you for your help." I told Brooke and Leo.

"Can I go up?" Brooke asked, in a voice as hollow as she looked.

"You can go." I just muttered, and her green light flashed up the stairs. "You too, Leo. You really should try to sleep now."

"Why does he get his own room?" Leo whispered. He threw a hateful glance at the cover in the corner which Luke was behind, in bed, watching TV.

"We need the lab to produce different elixirs and plan; we can't have anyone nearby who-"

"Is spying? Meddling? Is taking up unnecessary time and space?" He interrupted me.

I put a calming hand on his shoulder. "... who can get injured by the fumes."

"Why-"

"... the same reason I gave you Antidote X when you were little, instead of locking you up."

"You know, as well as I do, that not everyone deserves a second chance, Professor." Leo said severely with crossed arms.

I shook my head; Leo had become much angrier since the incident out in the woods eight days ago. Understandable - but he was like a completely different person. "Talk to Betty and Becca… I trust their judgment regarding Luke. And you know that Liam has the ability to manipulate people; no one is safe from him."

"He never managed to fool me."

"He didn't fool Luke the first time either. It was after the second dose of Antidote X that-"

"I still don't believe that." Leo interrupted me a second time. "He and Betty were fighting; you know what his temper's like - you can't trust him. I can agree that Liam might have persuaded him, but I think fifty percent was himself."

"We were the ones tricking him… you did too."

"Are you blaming _me_ for risking the life of my son?"

I reacted. "That's definitely not what I'm saying." I pleaded.

"What's your point, then?"

"Let's look at it from this perspective..." I said, looking at him a little sternly – I knew he was angry, but I was still the adult here. "Certainly there are times when you've been so mad that you just wanted to do something really stupid. Think about it carefully. But you don't do this stupid thing because you know it's wrong, am I right?"

"Of course." He nodded, still with dropped eyebrows. "Anything else would be primitive."

"Now; in Luke's case when you have these evil thoughts; there is something that tells you that there _are_ no boundaries; no consequences; encourages you to do this stupid thing. You completely forget that it's wrong because you're now convinced that it's actually a pretty good idea. Don't you think you had done this stupid thing, then?"

Leo sighed. "What are you trying to say, Professor?"

"What I'm trying to say is that; _that's_ how Liam's power works on people. He's fading out the boundaries completely; makes people think that this impulsive thought is _not_ just impulsive; that it's ordinary, normal. Both you, your brother and Charles know that this is how Liam works; that's why you've never fallen for his trick. But since he took the Antidote a second time, he became stronger - mentally - so he was able to come up with another strategy to deceive Luke - who in turn was already mind-blowingly mad, the heart-breaking feeling of being betrayed. His temperament played a big role in all this; I say nothing else; but I mean Liam knew about it too; so he took advantage of Luke's weaknesses. If it was only him, Luke hadn't done what he did; and you know that too."

"What do you mean by power?" Leo asked with narrowed eyes; his tone changed completely. "Is it a super power?"

"It's only a theory." I said, lowering my voice even more. "We think that, since he gets much smarter from Antidote X every time he takes it; he will eventually develop some kind of... telekinesis, maybe we can call it... the ability to control people's minds."

"Are you- are you serious?" He whispered excitedly.

I just nodded silently. "But it's still just a theory, so don't think too much about it. We'll discuss everything during dinner tonight when your father arrives. We're going to have a meeting."

We walked out of the new small room together and stood in the middle of the lab.

"So..." Leo said quietly, licking his teeth and grouchily looking down on the floor. "It's good that he won't inhale fumes... I guess..."

"I get you, Leo. Don't worry about it."

"I'm just stressed about everything that has happened..."

"We all are." I patted him on his shoulder. "Weren't you going to sleep, by the way? Brooke is awake."

"Yeah... maybe it's time for me." he said, throwing one last glance at the curtain, but was gone in the blink of an eye.

**Blossom**  
Keeping guard was one of the most nerve-wracking and restless assignments I've ever done this far. For a whole week now I had been sitting here between seven AM and seven PM; searched; I was looking for signs that Liam might surprise us, and I kept jumping for the smallest sound that reached my ears. It could be a bird that flew out and into a bush; it could be a car that drove onto the dirt road from the main road; it could be a leaf that fell to the ground from a tree; and each time I jerked as if the sky was about to collapse. Anything put all my senses on edge, so much that my brain started to hurt.

I'd been sitting quietly on the roof of the guesthouse for over nine hours when Becca said she could take over for me for a while so I could eat and take care of myself.

"A break?" I asked her. "You can just bring me food."

"You haven't showered in a while..." she mumbled.

I took a strand from my hair and smelled it. Was it really that noticeable? I looked at her again. "Thanks. Okay, I'll take shower, eat and then I'll be right back."

She shook her head. "You can talk to Luke for a while if you want. He's been asking for you."

Brooke groaned from the roof to the big house. "Don't let that child murderer distract you from our mission."

I didn't answer; there was nothing I could say anymore to make her change her mind about him.

I thanked Becca and flew to the open window upstairs where the bathroom was, next to my bedroom. I only took a quick shower before flying down again and grabbed myself a sandwich in the fridge. Irene had undertaken the task of always having sandwiches ready in the fridge while I, Becca, Brooke and Leo kept watch; so we could quickly fly in and take one in case we were hungry.

I brought the sandwich down to the basement where Luke sat upright in bed and watched a program on a TV that someone had bought and taken down for him. "I can see that you're awake." I said, sitting down on the armchair in the corner and opened the plastic wrapper on the sandwich. "Have you eaten?"

"I had lunch at around one." he replied. Looked a little impressed that he hadn't noticed me until I spoke. For him; he'd been all alone down there for who knows how long, and the next second I sat in the corner eating a sandwich. "I'll wait until dinner in four hours."

"How are you?" I asked, pushing the armchair closer to the bed, looking at his now deformed face; with the scar from his forehead down to his chin. "Are you hurting somewhere?"

"Yeah I- it's, uh- well, it's _something_ just about everywhere... But I have the button for the morphine." He nodded mischievously to his right arm, which had a cast on it - in that hand he held the button for the morphine (so he could move his fingers now at least) - he held the remote to the TV in his left.

"Can... can you move your toes?" I asked gently, taking a large bite of the sandwich which I now found out contained pesto, vegetables and lettuce; I had probably taken one of Becca and Leo's vegetarian ones. Oh, well.

Luke shrugged. "I can't even see them from here."

"Wanna try?" I got up, went down to the foot end of the bed and lifted the sheets. "Move the big toe."

"I am..." he sighed. The toe didn't move an inch; it didn't even vibrate.

"Professor said that you should try to move your toes _all the time_, and as soon as you notice something happening; we'll know that you will eventually walk again."

He sighed again, scratching his healthy eye. "I probably should try a little more often then. By the way; weren't you keeping watch until seven?"

"Becca took over. I needed to eat something."

"You could eat out there." he said, nodding to my half-eaten sandwich.

I looked at him with dropped eyebrows. "Sure... I can go up again."

"No, that's not what I meant." he said, rolling his eyes and sighed. "I just didn't think you _wanted_ to spend your free time down here. I'm pretty boring right now; can't do anything, as you can see." He looked down at his body and shrugged.

"But you can talk, can you?" I said. "Of course I wanted to see what you're up to down here, keep you company."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. People don't actually come down here too often. No one wants anything to do with me… but I understand why."

"Stop..." I said compassionately before he got to ramble too much. Even though he sounded so carefree, I know he felt left out. "At least I'll be here as often as I can. Maybe we can even move you upstairs soon? So you're surrounded by people a little more? Have the sun shining in your face." I cringed toward the blinding ceiling spot lights.

Luke nodded toward another corner of the room. "They're building a room for me over there, so I guess they want to keep me down here in the basement."

I turned around and looked at the direction he had nodded. A large, square hole was excavated in the ground beneath the house. "Are they moving you in _there_? Why?" I asked; started to get angry. This couldn't be for real?

"Professor Utonium will start working in here soon; he didn't want me to inhale unnecessary fumes and such. And he probably wanted some privacy down here."

"Then they might as well have moved you upstairs. I'll talk to him at dinner."

"Where's the bed gonna be? In the middle of the living room? Then I will _really_ be in everybody's way…"

"Zac and Gordon have moved to their dad full time; you can probably take one of their rooms."

"It feels a little intrusive, don't you think? Getting my own bedroom in a house full of people who don't even like me."

"You can stay in my room?" I said without thinking.

"What about you?"

"I don't mind sharing rooms." I had forgotten how easy it was to talk to him; it felt just like before all this happened; before that wind shelter, and Liam, and all the confusing emotions and feelings.

But Luke just gave me a reproachful look. "Yeah, right. You need your privacy as much as everyone else here. I think I'll be happy in there when it's done. The construction workers will probably come over tomorrow morning."

I looked over to the corner where the pillow and blanket was on the floor, which had been in the armchair before I had moved it closer to Luke's bed. Luke followed my gaze.

"Did you sleep in that chair last night?" He asked cautiously.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Every night. So no privacy is needed for me; we have already shared rooms seven nights in a row."

Luke bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at me with a hesitant look, a little like trying to think of something else to talk about. "But now I'm awake... I don't think I need a babysitter anymore." He laughed, becoming his usual, joking self again.

"Well, then... But just a tiny little part of you not liking that isolation cell; I push my bed to the wall so you can sleep in _my_ room."

"Do you really mean that?"

I nodded. "Of course. You need some natural sunlight sometimes, Luke. It's dead-silent down here; you need to hear birds, voices, life... It's not good for you to sit down here and watch TV days in the end…"

"Thank you." he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes again. "I actually hadn't thought about how quiet it is down here before..."

"Sorry."

"Is that a habit for you or something? Apologizing all the time. What is this – Canada?"

I reacted. "Do I do that often?"

"Yes… and I don't want you to. You do nothing wrong, you have _never_ done anything wrong. The only thing you had to apologize for; is the thing I have already forgiven. I never want to hear you say that word again, understand?"

"What if I screw up again?" I asked, challenging with a grin.

"You can't, because you are you. You don't hurt people on purpose."

"Thanks... And I'm done with you, just so you know."

"Thank the Gods!" Luke shouted, laughing up at the ceiling.

I laughed with him and ate up the last of the sandwich. "How does you face feel? Does it hurt?"

"Not so much. What does it even look like? Everyone who's looked at me today has had… pity… in their eyes. I don't like that. Do you have a mirror, or something?"

"I can bring one after dinner... But I probably have to warn you..."

"It's that bad, huh?" He asked with a grimace.

"No… no, not too bad… But you may be shocked. At least I've gotten used to it. It doesn't look as bad as I make you believe."

Luke smiled. "And I guess I still have my dimples?"

I felt my face getting warm, and nodded blushing with a shy smile.

**Brick**  
We were constantly on the verge of talking about the subject that I most wanted to talk to her about, but I didn't want to be the one who brought it up. Quite frankly, I wasn't even _sure_ if she had feelings for me... When I lay there in the forest with a broken spine; I might as well have hallucinated that she told me she loved me. I'd been pumped with morphine last night; so I might as well have dreamed that she said I would always be _breathtaking_ to her. How could I be sure if it was real or if I had just imagined everything? After all, the brain was a rather peculiar organ; one that not even scientists really knew how it worked properly. Anything can happen in there under stress.

That's why I didn't want to be the first to talk about it.

Betty ate up her sandwich, made a plastic ball and threw it against a trash can next to the desk behind her.

"Three-pointer." I mumbled with a timid grin.

"I know." she said simply, shrugging.

"I bet you couldn't do that with a real basketball." I challenged her.

"Yeah? I might show you some day. There's a basketball hoop above the garage door."

"Above the garage door? Classic." I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Maybe you could hit the hoop with a basketball, but I highly doubt you could throw a football across the pitch-" I fell silent.

"You just realized I'm super strong?" She grinned scornfully.

"Okay, you can throw longer than that." I admitted. "But you would never score; not with me on the defensive."

"Game on." she said, crossing her arms and nodding arrogantly.

I sighed and just looked at her. "I've missed this. It was several weeks ago since we just... talked. Without studying at the same time."

"I know, I was thinking the same thing." she replied, leaning forward. "Now that you're awake we will be able to talk all night. But we have to study a little too."

"What?" I moaned. Did I still have to do school work? After all that had happened?

"Your legs." She laughed, nodding to the lifeless limbs underneath the sheets. "We need to get you started again soon, and I'll help you exercise them every night."

"Okay, I can agree to do that." I said, a little grumpy. "How long do I have to expect? Has Professor given me any kind of deadline?"

"No..." she replied, becoming serious. "It's different from case to case. Some important nerves got stuck; but it wasn't as bad as Charles thought. He's pretty positive that you can start walking again; but I don't want to give you false hope. As I said; it differs from person to person."

So it was Charles who had been taking care of me all this time? First, he pretends to be a father figure, then he tricks me to take Antidote X without a care in the world; and now he patches me up like some kind of hero? He still hadn't come by to see how I was doing since I woke up. That coward.

I nodded and sighed. "Then I'll be one of those people who starts walking again. I've decided." I couldn't bear to talk about him with Betty right now.

"Good." She leaned forward, quickly put her cheek on my shoulder and leaned back again - as if she had regretted it, but she didn't seem to notice; as if she had done it subconsciously. "I actually believe in you - you're stubborn."

My heart pounded hard against my ribs; and a little nervous when I answered. "I sure am, right?"

"A lot." She raised her eyebrows, gave me a timid smile, and got up. "I have to go upstairs again; Becca took over for me but I think she wants to be with the children as much as possible on her free time."

"Are they okay?" I asked automatically.

"They're fine. Completely unharmed." Betty hesitated; as if she was unsure if she wanted to say something more or not; before she flew away.

She behaved quite strangely today - and I hoped she did it for a special reason. I smiled.

**Boomer**  
My dreams nowadays consisted mostly of a chaos of colors, shapes, flashing lights and a loud deafening noise; something I never thought I would ever experience in an unconscious state. I usually woke up with a jerk as soon as the color green was played in front of me. The sweat flows down my back, my heart beats hard and I breathe as if I had run several miles.

This night I woke up to Becca kissing me gently on my cheek - it was a strategy that had worked well the last few times she discovered I had a nightmare, instead of waking up and looking around like crazy.

"Dinner's ready in ten minutes." she whispered, stroking my wet forehead. "We're gonna discuss everything for real this time, so everybody has to be there."

"I know..." I whispered in the dark, only the bedside light lit her from behind as she sat on the bedside. "I'll just get dressed."

She waited while I was getting dressed and we walked together towards the house from the guesthouse where our bedroom was.

"Is Charles here?" I asked Betty who landed next to us to come with us into the main house.

"He's on his way. A car just turned onto the dirt road." I listened to the car and heard it too.

Brooke landed behind us. "I stay here."

"We're all gonna discuss the events." Betty said gravely. "Just come in and listen for a while, then you can-"

"I... stay... here." she said threateningly.

"Brooke..." I tried. "We will all be in there. Nothing will happen as long as we're together."

"We can leave the back door and the front door open so we can hear better." Becca suggested.

Brooke - who was expressionless - just nodded uncertainly and followed us inside. Betty took her hand and I took Becca's, then we all walked into the house while we heard a car turn onto the driveway; Charles had arrived.

**Butch**  
The surprise that they couldn't see or hear me had already settled long ago; the fact that they couldn't even feel the _scent_ of me was something completely new. My intelligence never stopped surprising me; the experiments I performed always resulted in my advantage. My theories turned out to be true all over and over; so why even bother planning when I can just _do_?

To my greatest advantage, of course; Luke's ability to make himself invisible - which I now seem to have inherited in some way - had evolved into something greater. I was completely camouflaged from their super-hearing, super-vision _and_ super-smell sense - they hadn't even noticed me, even though I sat only five feet away from them on one of the couches on the patio.

_I may have stolen your invisibility, brother, but you stole my laser; so I will come back to take something more meaningful to you. _

I looked a little extra at the pink-eyed girl as she entered the house, with her ginger hair flowing behind her.

_But not today. _


	3. 2-There's no time for all this fighting

Thank you** K2Lover2226** for the first comment on this story! And thank you for following and favoriting! And thanks to you too, **pzkpop** for following! :)

* * *

**There's no time for all this fighting**

**Professor**  
It was fortunate that the kitchen was big enough for us all to sit around the large table without being squeezed together too much. Including me; we were seven people eating dinner this Wednesday night. We would have been nine if Zac and Gordon had been here; but they had moved to their father in Townsville until everything had settled down here in Forestville. Irene had made lasagna for the evening; a regular one, and a smaller vegetarian for Becca and Leo. They sat toward the kitchen, farthest from the window, with George and Eugene between them in a crib on a chair. On the long side toward the hall Irene and I sat, and against the other wall Charles sat at the end, Betty in the middle, and Brooke closest to the window. We all started grabbing servings from the lasagnas during silence.

"Alright... Everyone's taken food... then everything left to do is to start this meeting." I mumbled a little nervously - it was the first time in over a week that we would talk about what I, Irene and Charles thought about what had happened and what was supposedly _going_ to happen. What felt most weird about the situation was the seriousness of it all; we had never been in this kind of danger before.

Charles looked down at the plate, and said; "What we need to talk about today is how we can stop Liam without giving him Antidote X."

Everyone already knew why we couldn't give him Antidote X – since that makes him smarter - but the last details I had talked to Leo about earlier in the day down in the lab was information none of the others knew.

"Why not?" Becca asked. "It doesn't matter if he gets smarter; if we take away his powers we can still lock him up." Brooke nodded in agreement but Leo looked worriedly at Becca and then at me.

"Of course he would be locked up without his powers..." I said. "But we have a theory of why he is getting smarter, and why in turn it can be dangerous for us and for those who handle him in the future." I looked around at everyone; Charles was still looking down at the table; Leo looked worriedly at Becca, who was defiantly waiting for my answer; Betty also looked at me and waited, Brooke still looking out the window while Irene patted me on my knee encouragingly. "We think it may be a special power that only he has, which won't disappear no matter how much Antidote X we give him; but instead is feeding off of the antidote."

"We can't give Liam Antidote X since it makes his special power stronger?" Becca asked, I nodded.

"He didn't show anything until a couple of years after the first dose of Antidote X." Charles replied. "Admittedly, he was intelligent - even if he didn't show it in school - but he was a genius at talking to people."

"Manipulate." Leo clarified.

"Right." Charles nodded and looked at him.

"So it was always a super power?" Betty asked. "Not a personality-split-disorder?"

"Doctors diagnosed Liam with ADHD several years ago," Charles said darkly, "but Daniella and I were not happy with that speck of dust - there must be something else to his behavior. Something more. We thought for a long time that he was showing symptoms of schizophrenia or some sort of personality-split, we just didn't know how strong that part of him was. And we had no idea that it was because of Antidote X that he showed this ability. Back then we didn't even know it was a capability."

"But it wasn't Antidote X that created it." Irene said seriously.

"He had it inside of him from the beginning. It was only Antidote X that triggered the ability to... come into force, so to speak." Charles agreed.

"What _exactly_ is this ability of his?" Becca asked impatiently.

"Some kind of telekinesis." Charles replied.

"So he controls people by _thinking_?"

"It's just a theory..." said Irene. "But under no circumstances do we think that it's _not_ a possibility."

"It might just mean that there was something Mojo Jojo mixed in the ingredients when he created them?" Becca said and frowned.

"Or when Him revived them?" Betty asked. "You mentioned it before we fought Liam - that it was Him who had mixed with his DNA." She suddenly gasped. "That's what Luke told me too! That night when I told you about our conversation." She turned to me and Irene with her hands to her mouth. "That Antidote X only enforced his powers... I had completely forgotten about that... How could I forget it?"

"It had been a detail we would've liked to know about before we gave him Antidote Z." I said.

"Antidote Z?" Leo asked.

"The formula we made for Liam and Luke." I replied. "It's like Antidote X but without some chemicals that could be harmful to them. We first thought that it was those substances that created his personality-split – the one he never even had. But now that we know that it's Antidote X _itself_ that triggers him…"

"... we can start all over again and make something else." Irene continued.

"Are you serious?" Becca asked. "So he's basically-"

"-a demon." Brooke interrupted her.

So far, Brooke had been sitting completely silent and mostly looking out the window - and not eating anything as usual - and we all turned our heads to her.

"... _not dependent on Chemical X_, was what I was going to say." Becca mumbled.

"We don't believe he's a demon, sweetie..." Irene whispered.

Brooke glared at Irene. "If Him - who is a _demon_ \- has mixed with Liam's DNA, there's a good chance that he's become something resembling his creator, right?"

"You have to understand-" I started but was interrupted by Brooke.

"There's nothing left of Liam in that shell anymore - or Butch, which was his real name. _Liam_ is what he is now; there has never even been a Liam as a _person_, as we thought we knew him; only this demon that Him scrambled up in a frying pan years ago. Remember that little green-eyed brat with a weird laughter and who _literally_ vanished when I kissed him on his cheek? That kid is gone. _That_ is not him." She pointed towards the window, as if Liam stood on the driveway, listening to our conversation. "What was once _Butch_ is completely gone... forever. I killed him that day, and he never came back like his brothers did. Instead we have Liam - the demon."

It was the first time during all these days that Brooke told us about her innermost thoughts. Of course, she thought in these paths; feeling cheated, deceived.

She continued: "So really; the best thing we can do right now is give him Antidote X and then finish him - _it_ \- once and for all."

The rest of us were silent. We didn't dare admit that we; Irene, Charles, and I; had all once or twice during this week thought of that exact outcome without uttering the words. But I knew they had thought of it too...

Betty broke the silence: "So... since it's about some kind of power, we can't just take away his powers and lock him up; because then he'd only convince the guards to release him."

"And then, somehow, get a hold of Chemical X again. That's what we don't want to risk." I said, cautiously peeking at Brooke, since we had more or less ignored what she was saying. But this meeting wasn't about getting rid of Liam; we only wanted to stop him. "We don't know how much stronger mentally he will become after each dose of Antidote X. In the end, he will probably develop a mental power strong enough to fully control people. And we can't watch him forever; he affects everyone. And Chemical X only makes him stronger physically every time he takes _that_."

"But that's just a theory, of course." Irene added. "First and foremost, we are going to try to produce an elixir that can both remove the powers and… somehow make him more… normal. Or at least help other people not be affected by him."

"We're gonna need help from Him..." Betty mumbled. "Only he knows how to stop Liam."

"And you think that Him will just say '_of course I'll help you defeat me_' and tell you everything we need to know?" Brooke snapped, annoyed.

"We have to try." Betty murmured.

"It's probably something you'll have to _try_, yes." I agreed.

"But how do we get Him to help us?" Becca asked.

"It won't be easy..." Betty mumbled.

"Do you have any ideas?" Leo asked her.

Betty shook her head. "We'll probably start with just talking to him."

"And _then_ kick his ass?" Leo said with raised eyebrows.

"At least we have to plan a visit." Charles said. "Decide which ones to go and which ones to stay."

"I'm going." Leo said immediately.

"Me too." Said Brooke.

"I actually think that _I_ have to go instead of one of you two." Betty said. "We have to use our brains as well; not only muscles."

"What do you mean by that?" Leo asked, fuming.

"I just mean that… you two are the angriest about the situation. I'm angry too, don't get me wrong!" She hurried to say as Brooke shot her an accusatory glare.

I jumped in. "What Betty is trying to say is that you need someone who can talk to him calmly. You two are going to-"

"Going to _what_?" Leo interrupted me.

"_Kick his ass_." Becca said next to him, repeating his statement from a few seconds ago. "I agree with Professor and Betty; she must be one of those who go."

"Then it will be me and Betty." Leo said simply.

"I don't think so." Brooke said. "Shouldn't you stay around your kids?"

Leo popped up from his seat - so quickly that my human eyes didn't perceive his movement; first he sat down and the second later he stood up - and stared at her, grinding his teeth.

"Calm down!" Becca wheezed and pulled him down in his chair again.

"We weren't supposed to start fighting…" Betty said, sinking down a bit. "We must focus on the mission."

I pulled out a coin from the inner pocket of my robe, flicked it upwards in the air and let it land in the palm of my hand. "Brooke's going." I said; Leo gave me an angry look but I just shook my head. "It is decided. You can go next time."

"I know you feel isolated," Irene said softly, patting Leo on his fist, which lay clenched on the table in front of him, "This is hard for all of us, but we must keep together now."

Leo turned his gaze slowly toward the table and calmed down again. "I'll stay here then." he muttered. His temper had been much hotter lately.

"Where do you think he is now?" Becca asked cautiously. We all knew that she meant Liam.

"If he acts like any other villain so far, he'll probably lay low until he has come up with a plan." I exhaled lightly; the tension around the table seemed to settle for a moment. Now everyone paid more attention to what the other was saying.

"So the best thing we can do right now is try to get back to normal." Irene said.

"But not entirely." Said Charles. "We have to keep looking for him, even though he's stayed away all week."

"We're too many for him." Leo said. "He needs a proper plan to get to us."

"He's probably planning what to do as we speak." I nodded.

Becca looked down at her sons. "What does he want from us?"

"Me." Brooke replied quickly, and we all looked at her. "It's me he's after. That's why I want to stop him before anything happens."

"We'll solve this." Irene said, looking at her with sincere, shiny eyes. "But we can't sit here in the house forever; we have to start living again." She was drawn between protecting everyone, and seeing her family happy and rested - that was the soft and motherly side of her.

"We have to be prepared." Betty added.

"Of course, but nonetheless-" Irene interrupted herself, realizing that the conversation was just going around in circles.

"So we're going back to school?" Brooke asked.

"We can't let people know that something is threatening the heroes of the entire world. We have to keep this as discreet as possible." I said. "I told your principal that we had to go away for a while, but I only gave ourselves two weeks. Next week we have to start behaving normal again. Especially the two of you." I looked at Betty and Brooke.

"I stay here when they go to school. I can't show up there without my brothers." Leo said.

"You're off the hook." said Charles.

"And I will keep pretend that I have a stomach ache; so I'm gonna stay here as well." Said Becca.

"Perfect." muttered Brooke.

"Charles." I said, turning to face him. "After dinner, you can come with me and Irene down to the lab to discuss further, and tomorrow night we want to get started."

"Luke...?" Betty asked.

"You can move him into Gordon's bedroom." I replied.

Charles nodded. "I'll call Daniella and say I'll be late."

"I can drive you home later." Betty said. "So that you'll get home faster."

"Thanks. We're actually considering moving out here as soon as we can. The boys won't go to school anymore, so we need an alibi for that."

"There's actually an empty house a mile away, just across the lake." Irene said. "The Cosby's moved out a month ago."

"We can probably get Mayor to remove you from Townsville's register, and make sure you actually live in that house. Protect your identity." I chipped in.

Brooke suddenly growled. "Are we done here then?" she asked.

We all looked at her again, I replied; "Yes, I think we have told you everything you need to know."

"Good… and you know I'm right. If we can't get Him to help us; and if you can't figure out how to stop him... there's still another thing we can do to end everything." She said and got up. "Thanks for dinner, Irene." Brooke walked away from her untouched, clean plate and flew out the back door.

**Blossom**  
I walked down to the lab where Luke was waiting for news from the meeting, with a tray in my hands.

"Hey." He said happily as he saw me. "Is that lasagna?"

"It was delicious." I answered and nodded, put the tray in his lap and sat down in the armchair where I had left it. "What are you watching?" I glanced at the TV who was standing at the foot end of his bed.

"I don't know." he said, turning it off. "There was some documentary of space narrated by an old man who seemed less interested in the program than I was." He hungrily dug into the food with the fork in his left, undamaged hand, but jerked a little as he opened his mouth. "When do we remove the stitches?" He asked, poking at the stitches in the right side of his mouth.

I leaned towards his face and he turned away slightly, a little shy. "It looks nice now, I can ask Charles."

"Doesn't Professor know how to do it?"

"Yeah..." I replied uncertainly.

"So he can remove the stitches tonight?"

"I think so." I said, wondering why he didn't want Charles to do it but didn't ask. "By the way, once you've eaten, we'll move you upstairs to Gordon's room. The construction workers shouldn't have to see you in a bed down here tomorrow morning."

"It would look pretty sick." he agreed with a grin. "They would probably think I was your prisoner; down here in a basement in the middle of the woods; with stitches all over my face, a cast on my arm and not being able to walk at all." He stopped smiling. "Are ya'll okay with it, then?"

"Stop worrying about it, Luke. You're always welcome upstairs."

He nodded as he chewed his food. "Do you have the mirror?"

"I'll bring it to you once we've moved you."

"Hurray." he said, and took another bite of the lasagna. "So… what did you say at the meeting? Is there anything I'm allowed to know?"

"If you weren't bound to this bed you could've been there too." I said, and then told everything we had discussed at the dinner table.

"So it _was_ some kind of power after all?" Luke asked with wide eyes, put the empty tray on the table next to the bed. "And you're going to fly to Russia to talk to Him about it?"

I heard on his voice that he disliked the idea that I were soon leaving him. "It'll probably just be a quick visit." I assured him. "Becca and Leo will stay here and protect the house."

"I'm not worried about myself, Betty, I thought you knew that."

"And you don't have to worry about me and Brooke, either. He can't do anything to us."

"It's not about Him either."

I threw Luke a suspicious look before asking: "Do you think Liam is following us?"

"If he ain't already waiting for you." he replied darkly. "He should've already figured out that you would seek answers from Him. I don't know what I would do if I found out that you ran into Liam again."

"Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself." when Luke didn't answer, I looked at him sternly. "It's actually a little insulting that you don't believe that I can protect myself from him. After thirteen years as a super heroine and you're the only one who doubts my powers."

"I can't possibly be the only one." he replied without apologizing. "How do you think Professor feels every time you fight someone?"

"You're not my dad." I said grumpily, looking away.

"Betty..." he pleaded quietly, I still didn't look at him. "Of course I think you can take care of yourself, it's just... none of us know how strong Liam really is and..." He silenced and sighed.

I understood that he only cared about what would happen to me; it was quite obvious that he was scared that I wouldn't come back.

Frankly, I didn't even know if we were mortal or immortal... no one had tested it. The only thing we knew for sure we would die from was to first get Antidote X and then die like normal people, but we had no idea if anyone else with super powers could kill us. It was actually pretty close when we met the Berger brothers for the first time (but back then they called themselves the Rowdyruff boys). My sisters and I had felt completely defeated... Had they been able to kill us; in case they had _really_ tried?

Can Liam kill us now?

"I'll come back." I promised him.

"I know." Luke replied. It looked like something was suddenly dawning on him. "What if you give me CX now?" CX was short for Chemical X.

"You'd probably gain super powers..." I replied. "But you would still have been paralyzed from the waist down. Some kids got hold of the chemical when we were little. One of them was in a wheelchair and he could fly, but was still paralyzed." I smiled sympathetically at Luke. "On the other hand; he was born that way, but... I actually don't think you'd be able to walk again just by taking CX. And we'd never know how your healing process would do if we gave you Antidote X again afterwards and started over... Maybe it would stop completely and you would be paralyzed forever."

"But I will be able to fly, and be strong in my upper body. Be able to shoot lasers and other stuff like that. I can help… and I wouldn't have a scar on my face…"

"It doesn't work that way, Luke." I sighed, grabbed his fingers poking out from the cast. "Pimples and other... flaws disappear with the help from CX. But scars are permanent. Look at your arm." I said, nodding to his left arm, where he had a scar from when he was little - he once told me he'd got stuck under a dirt bike when he was living in Texas and injured himself bad during the incident. "It didn't go away when you took Chemical X eight days ago. We still get sick like normal people, but Becca never seemed to feel nauseous when she was pregnant…" I fell silent and was absorbed in thoughts.

Becca never felt sick when she was pregnant, and I remember asking her midwife if it was normal. Emily, the midwife, had said that everyone experienced the pregnancy differently; but back then we kind of didn't think it might have been due to her powers; that was something Professor told us much later could have been the reason. I had never been pregnant so I had nothing to compare with, and we could all three get sick like normal people… and get drunk, be hungover…

"What are you thinking about?" Luke wondered quietly, watching my face.

"I think I just discovered Liam's weakness." I answered mechanically, staring straight ahead.

"What?"

"It's pretty obvious... it's so obvious it's stupid, actually, but it's true."

"What?" Luke repeated frustrated.

"Alcohol."

"Alcohol?"

"We get weaker from alcohol. It's the only neurotoxin we don't seem to be immune to."

Luke stared at me incredulously, then his mouth twitched a little in the left corner. "So all we have to do is to get him drunk before we beat him up?"

"I know, it sounds incredible. But if we can somehow get him to consume alcohol…"

"I was just kidding, Betty." Luke said. "But you're serious? Are you gonna try to get him to drink alcohol? How did you think that would work? _Hey, Liam, no, no wait a second, please. Before we fight; maybe we could have a few beers together. What do you say? We can talk about everything over a drink, right?_"

"Hilarious... really charming ..." I said, crossing my arms. "Let me hear your fantastic plan, then."

Luke reacted. "That _was_ a good idea, Betty. It was clever of you to find out that he has a weakness, it's just the very idea of trying to get him to drink something we give him that sounds impossible." He shyly glanced at my face. "At least mention it to the others. Sorry if I sounded insensitive... It was a good idea."

"It's okay." I interrupted him. "You're actually right, anyway; it would be too difficult, but now we know at least."

"Right." He hurried to say, relieved that I wouldn't be angry with him.

Luke was that kind of person who could get a little scornful from time to time, but always seemed to change at the last second, as if his natural reaction to things was to always assert himself. It's a fairly common trait for young guys around our age, I would think. Some of his former, mocking self was still within him, and last Christmas he _had to_ change after he had helped us rescue Professor. He'd been my friend for only about seven months now, and sometimes I noticed how his old personality snuck up on him as if he couldn't control it himself.

But he had changed. At least he tried.

And further more… was I more sensitive than what I used to be? It felt like I got more offended than usual… it must be due to the stress.

I looked back at Luke and sighed… and wished that we could just pause everything, stop time, and live in an alternative universe for just a short moment… in a universe where I could do whatever I wanted, without feeling guilty about it.

**Brick**  
We were silent for a moment and just looked at each other; I was sitting in my bed and she in the armchair next to it. Nobody said anything. It was like we could look at each other and understand exactly what the other was thinking without having to speak. She knew I was worried about her and I understood that something had to be done on her part. Betty was still holding her hand on my fingers sticking out of the cast, looked like she became aware of it and pressed them tightly. For some reason it got tense in the room; a tension so thick that could only be cut through by one of us saying something; but both remained silent.

My heart suddenly began to drum against my ribcage as she leaned forward and put her head on the pillow next to my head; her nose touching my cheek. "I'll come back to you." She whispered. "I promise."

**Buttercup**  
Even though I had more important things to do; I helped Betty carry some stuff from down the lab to Gordon's bedroom. She carefully carried Luke up the stairs as I took the machines that kept track of his values and the completely unnecessary brand new TV.

"Thank you." She mumbled as I clumsily placed one of the machines right inside the door, she almost didn't even want to look at me; but it was something I had gotten used to over this past week; the others felt quite uncomfortable with my new silent personality.

"Thanks, Brooke." I heard Luke say a little louder before I flew away. I just snorted in response.

When I came out to the backyard and looked up at the roofs where Leo and Becca were sitting, I discovered that I was not alone on the lawn. "Why are you so rude to Luke?" Betty asked me rather angrily.

She knew very well why; it was her being so incredibly naive who believed in his lies that was the problem. "I don't have time for this." I said, but I saw on her face she wasn't about to leave me alone. "We have to focus. If you don't remember; it's thanks to your bestie that we have to stay outside keeping watch around the clock."

"You know it's not his fault!" She growled. "How can you not just understand that?!"

Becca landed between us. "Stop it, both of you." she commanded us quietly. "What if he's nearby? We have to-"

"I mean it!" Betty interrupted her angrily. She looked up at Leo, who was sitting on the roof of the guest house. "_All_ of you should listen to this! Since none of you seem inclined to understand a thing! Except for you… "she said quietly facing Becca. "Didn't you listen to what Professor just said at dinner; that he could have developed some kind of manipulation-power?"

"But Luke was angry because of-"

"_Of course_ he was angry with me!" She interrupted Leo. He seemed to be the only one still on my side as to Luke, which is why I liked him best at the moment. "I would also be angry with me! I lied to my best friend! Can you even imagine what that would feel like? To be tricked and lied to by someone you trust?"

The rest of us waited silently; I rolled my eyes.

Betty turned to Becca. "Leo got to know everything from the beginning. We told him without even discussing it; it was a matter of course because you trusted him." She turned to Leo. "I trusted Luke, but still let him think he might die. How would _you_ feel if you had been in Luke's shoes; if Becca had tricked you into dying and had to take Antidote X to survive, and then realized she was just lying to you? That she had deceived you?"

Leo looked at Betty almost rebellious, but then lowered his eyes to the ground. "Well... I probably wouldn't had been too happy about it..." he mumbled, scratching his neck.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Leo." I said; sick and tired of all the drama that Betty was trying to start. I was not going to let him join her naive side. "We don't actually have-"

"-time for this?" Betty asked, looking straight at me. "Don't you think I already know? Then why do I have to explain to you that we all have to keep together? _All of us_. Luke included since he is innocent! Want to know exactly whose fault all this is? Do you _really_ want someone to blame?" her eyes stared wildly into mine, seemed to shoot lightning bolts. "_Everything_... is... _my_... fault." She articulated. "If I had just told him everything and let him be part of the plan, this would never have happened. He'd even voluntarily taken Antidote X if he only knew why! But still I tricked him into doing it... I didn't even have to... it was _he_ who told us about Liam- if only I had- he could've died out there on the road, and I just- It's my fault, I-"

Betty began to cry; which she did quite often nowadays and looked at her own hands, as if holding all hope she had left in them.

The back door shut closed and Professor joined us in the back yard. We all turned to him as he slowly walked up to Betty who was trying to hide that she had been crying by wiping her tears on the sleeves of her shirt. "I didn't know..." he said softly to her. "Of course, I knew you were friends, but I had no idea _how_ close you were. Why didn't you say something?"

"I don't know..." she sobbed. "I just thought it would be best to stick to the plan..."

Professor walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders, bent down to try and look into her eyes. "Had you told me you trusted Luke, then of course he wouldn't have to take Antidote X... But that's not your fault, Beatrice. Don't you _ever_ believe that. Everything has a meaning in life, but you are not the direct cause of all this happening."

"I'm part of the cause... I just hate to see my family so scared... And I hate that no one understands Luke..."

He pulled her into a hug and then stared strictly at me and Leo over her head. "I believe Beatrice and Luke, and it's about time that you join us on this side, as well."

I snorted with my arms crossed.

Leo looked down on the ground.

Becca looked at me, tried to make me fall for her puppy eyes.

I sighed and rolled my eyes again. "I'll try to be nicer to him." They might leave me alone if I showed a little co-operation.

"Thank you." Betty whispered and went back to the house. Professor followed her.

"Shall we go back to work?" I asked Becca and Leo.

"Aren't you going to bed?" Becca whispered cautiously.

"No. I'll lay down when I get tired."

After that no one said anything to me again for the rest of the evening and I was far too focused on my assignment to keep thinking about what had just happened.

**Brick**  
It felt like I had listened to something that was definitely not meant for my ears, but at the same time it felt… nice. Gordon's bed was right next to the window, so I had heard pretty much everything that had been said downstairs in the yard, at least whenever they raised their voices. Betty had defended my honor in front of her family, had basically put the whole blame on herself even though she didn't deserve it. I really couldn't handle her having such feelings of guilt because of me. It pained me to hear that.

Fortunately, I heard Professor after a while explaining what I had intended to say to her anyway. The authority in his voice made the hair rise on my arms when he spoke directly to Leo and Brooke; that it was about time they burried the hatchet between themselves and me. Had I been standing out there receiving that kind of scolding from Professor Utonium I would've crawled into a corner like a dog. But Brooke seemed completely unmoved by his words, as if she hadn't heard them at all. Did that mean that she and I wouldn't get along for a while, or did it just mean that she was so empty nowadays, as Betty had explained, that she didn't care much about anything at all? It was strange that she had hardly even reacted to his words, given Professor's tone; one that I had never heard him use before…

I hope we can eventually agree on things in the future, Brooke and I, otherwise I might as well start preparing my own funeral.


	4. Chapter 3 - The deal

New follower: **Carriedreamer**! Thank you :)

* * *

**The deal**

**Professor**  
Charles had prepared everything for the move to Forestville the next morning. Cosby's old house had been empty for so long since renovating the house would cost more than the purchase itself, but Charles wanted to cover the costs without even discussing it. He wanted Daniella as close to him as possible, and Cosby's house was just a mile from ours. The only thing that stood between our house and theirs was the lake, so the girls and Leo could see the white house from our roof; thus being able to protect Daniella as well. Charles had also called Townsville High and told them he had been offered a job in Dallas and needed to move back to Texas with the whole family right away; so Leo and Luke would lose valuable school hours... But why did that even matter anymore? I tried homeschooling all of them on their spare time, but I soon realized that they were far too nervous to take in any learning at all, so that's why I let it be.

The newest thing on the schedule was that Beatrice and Brooke would fly off to Russia today, the day after the meeting in the kitchen, and hopefully Brooke would behave. Betty had made it sound a bit like a "good cop/bad cop"-situation, but I had been way too tense to laugh at her jokes.

At twelve o'clock in the afternoon they decided to leave.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Betty asked Rebecca and Leo who were staying to protect the house.

"Trust us." Leo replied.

We were on the driveway; Betty, Brooke, Becca, Leo, Irene, Charles, and I. Betty looked worriedly up at her bedroom window above the garage.

"We'll check on him too." Becca promised her. Although Gordon's bedroom was on the other side of the house, she'd understood what Betty had meant. "And Daniella is gonna keep him company as long as he is awake."

"Thank you." whispered Betty with a trembling inhale. "Let's go, then." With one last glance at Brooke, she lifted off the ground and darted away with a pink glow behind her, Brooke with her green followed.

**Blossom**  
It only took us a few seconds to arrive at where the prison was. We stood in front of the building which would have been impossible to see from the snow-covered roads had it not been signposted; it was as white as the snow that swirled around us. The prison was in the middle of the forest and the nearest town was sixty miles away. As far as the eye could see we only saw woods after woods after woods in all the white.

"Do they know we're coming?" I asked a little uncertainly. I had completely forgotten what Professor had said before we flew.

The only thing I could think of while standing there on the driveway was Luke's silent plea that I should stay with him. Our goodbye had been quite brief as Brooke and I had to guard a few extra hours while Becca and Leo rested; and his worried eyes had said everything even though his mouth was smiling and assured me that I didn't have to think about him while I was away from home.

It felt quite inappropriate right now to act on our feelings - he probably knew that too - but we had come closer and closer to the subject every hour we spent with each other. I was still confused as to how I felt about Luke, but somehow it felt so right! As if he and I were just a matter of time; as if I'd always been waiting for him. And I still hadn't said anything to my current boyfriend who worried so much about me after all this that he was going insane… I'm going to burn in hell, am I?

Brooke snapped me out of my troubled thoughts, even though I had only been thinking for a second. "Who cares?" she replied excitedly to my pronounced question (though it might as well had been to my unspoken one), started walking toward the building. She wanted to meet the demon more than anyone else in the family. Maybe it would have been a better idea to bring Leo instead?

We entered the building without any problems; Professor had alerted them about us, and two guards with enormous fur jackets escorted us to a couple of doors at the far end of a corridor. We had now walked through so many different doors with different code locks that I had lost count - not literally, of course, since I have an eidetic memory... but how many were there now again? I shook my head - there are more important things to think about than how many doors you have walked through.

"He's in here." said one of the guards with a deep voice, and larger in body than anyone I'd ever met; he could've been Liam's and Gordon's love child. His crunchy English made him sound like the most dangerous Russian movie villain ever.

The second guard, who was not as big as the first one but still bigger than ordinary people, opened a door for us and we walked in. We had entered a large room, high walls, reminiscent of a cave. The small windows that were the only light source in the room twenty feet up on the cave wall had thick iron bars through them. It was freezing cold in the cave, it had been like a kind of a shock to walk through the doors from the warm and cozy corridor - now I get why these guards were so big and had such thick jackets; it was they who handled the demon.

On the floor, in the middle of the room, Him the demon sat on a chair and curiously looked at his visitors. Oddly enough, they had put on a straitjacket on him outside the dark red prison uniform - what was he going to do?

"His demonic powers don't work in the cold, right?" asked Brooke the guard who had let us in. He shook his head with disgust in his eyes as he looked at the demon.

"Let me do the talking, okay?" I said quietly to her.

The guards stayed on the other side of the doors; in the corridor; while Brooke and I went to the chair where he sat. "The Powerpuff girls... What a surprise." he said with his echoing disgusting voices. Yes, in plural.

"You don't sound very surprised." I said.

"Don't say that... Where's your sister?"

"That's none of _your_ fuc-" Brooke started angrily, but I interrupted her.

"The main thing is that _we_ came." I told him with a polite smile.

"That's true. I've been sitting here for almost a year now and believe it or not; you're actually my first visitors."

"It's hard to believe." muttered Brooke, who was getting impatient. I grabbed her hand.

Him noticed. "You seem anxious about something." he said to Brooke. "What do you have on your little mind?"

"We're here to talk to you about Liam." she spat.

_That stupid_\- I groaned inside my head and tried to calm down. I knew he wasn't going to collaborate if we just flung everything we knew in his face, so I tried to smooth over what Brooke had said: "Brick, Butch and Boomer." I corrected her quickly.

"What in the world do you want to know about _them_?" he asked, but his facial expression told me that he began to realize what we wanted out of this conversation. But then again; Brooke had outed us the first thing she did.

"How did you do to revive them?" I asked. "I mean, we defeated them after all. How did you manage to get them back as they were; instead of making a brand new batch?"

"Don't tell me that this information is for a school project. Why do you want to know that?" His former politely, curious face now became expressionless - he was tired of the game that had barely even begun. So much for trying to soften him up first. _Thanks, Brooke._

"You already know why." Brooke snapped. _And she keeps doing it… UGH!_

"If I, for some unfathomable reason, decided to tell you how to stop him… what do I get in return?" _Yeah; he knew…_

"You'd live." Brooke said. "How can you resist such an opportunity?"

"We're not going to kill him." I whispered to Brooke.

"Her; I believe." he said, looking at me. "She's completely straight forward..." He was looking directly at Brooke. "I've always liked you; that's why I chose him."

_Chose him_? I tried not to exchange looks with Brooke; but she also knew that he meant Liam. Brooke looked affectionately at Him. "So, as long as we're honest with our intentions; we get the information we want. Is that what you mean?"

Him shook his head. "I never said that. Surely I can enjoy a personality without longing for spilling all my secrets?"

"You _are_ planning something." she noted.

"It sounds like you can't get past him." he said. "Or, am I wrong?" He asked me, who had watched their discussion for a while.

"Apparently." I just replied. "We're working on it."

"And it would have been so much easier if I had just told you how to stop him?"

"We would love to get it over with pretty soon."

"What have you tried so far?"

Neither I nor Brooke answered. I wondered how we could get around Him's thoughts, while Brooke seemed to fume more and more for every precious second that went by.

"One thing I might be able to help you with..." we listened carefully. "I guess you haven't even _thought_ of removing his powers?"

"Do you think we are _stupid_? Why do you think we're here?" Brooke asked insulted. But she should have known better - the demon was trying to annoy us, trying to figure out how much we really knew. _Now_ he also knew that Liam had gotten Antidote X at one point because Brooke couldn't keep her cool.

"Calm down, Brooke." I warned her. "We need something concrete. You said something about a returned favor?"

"Yes?" He said, looking for the first time genuinely surprised, but he quickly put his facial muscles in a more relaxed position again.

"Besides the obvious that you want to defeat us and take over the world," I said, "is there anything else you wish for? Anything at all."

"I've always dreamt of owning an amusement park." he said sarcastically without moving a muscle. "You're wasting my time."

"What a wonderful time you have to kill here. Really." Brooke nodded and looked around. "You were probably _really_ busy before we stopped by."

"Silence is preferable in some cases."

"You won't win this; so you better tell us everything we want to know." Brooke said with her arms crossed.

"Oh, don't say that. It doesn't _sound_ like I'm losing at all."

"There is one thing we can do if you don't want to help us. That will surely not count to your advantage."

"I actually don't think even _you_ have it in you."

"_Try me_." Brooke said challenging, threatingly bending forward closer to Him.

"I am not surprised that you are this inclined to win... but killing your boyfriend?"

With a violent motion, Brooke flew forward and stood so close to Him that she almost touched him, her face just a few inches from his. "_Watch it, Demon._" she growled menacingly.

"It seems I may have hit a nerve." He whispered with his upper lip curved over a wicked smile, and shiny excited eyes.

"Don't let him get to you." I said, pulled Brooke back to her former place next to me. "You know he's just trying to provoke you." Brooke continued to steadily glare at Him without saying anything.

"It doesn't seem like we can agree on anything here." he said with a happy smile towards Brooke.

"It seems so." I agreed. There was nothing more we could do. There was nothing a demon wanted but power, and we couldn't give him that. "We will come up with something, but you will never see freedom again." I turned to leave.

"And remember this," I heard Brooke say behind me, "if he has to die; I'll visit again. And next time I won't say a word to you."

"I look forward to your next visit." he said. I looked back, Brooke followed me, made faces; biting her tongue; trying to restrain herself from bursting, as she heard his voice; dreading what he was going to say next. "And I hope you _do_ come back, because then I know you killed Liam."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!" Cried Brooke, and flew toward to the demon again.

"BROOKE!" I shouted and flew after.

"I'm not going to let you win this!" She said angrily, grabbing the collar of his straitjacket, lifted him up. "Just tell us what to do to cure him!"

"Don't you understand?" He laughed, but he began to sound a little nervous as he helplessly dangled in her grip with his arms tightly tied around his body. "There is nothing you _can_ do! There is no cure!"

"TELL ME!" She commanded, clenching her other fist, charging.

"If you kill me now, Buttercup, you will never find out how to stop him."

Brooke roared with anger, charged her fist backwards and punched the demon so hard in his face that some teeth and blood flew out of his mouth.

"Brooke!" I warned her and watched Him fall to the ground at her feet.

Brooke jerked him off from the floor again, holding him so close to her face that she could feel his breath. "That was for calling me Buttercup." She wheezed. "Now tell us what we wanna know if you want to live."

I decided to let Brooke have her way with him; it felt like I hadn't managed to get anything out of him by just talking; maybe Brooke would do better with her aggressive nature and "bad-cop"-tactics. I glanced back at the guards who didn't seem to mind either. They were both standing with their heads poking in through the doors, excitedly looking at what we were doing.

Brooke also glanced back. "Maybe you should leave the room if you don't want to see this." she told them.

The guards looked at each other, grinned. "Tell us when you're done." the smaller one of them both said before closing the door. "We'll get someone who can... clean up after you."

**Buttercup**  
"N-now... There, there; why so hostile all of a sudden?" Him stammered, obviously nervous, with blood seeping out of his mouth. It surprised me that his blood was red; but I don't know what I had imagined before, either. Maybe tar or some kind of slime. "There must be a way..."

"Did you just realize that we're not children anymore?" I said with an as wicked smile as Him had shown me before.

"J-just put me down s-so we can talk about this."

"I'm actually starting to lose respect for you. I didn't even know it was there to begin with."

"There should be something we can agree on."

I thought theatrically, but then I threw him down on the stone floor in front of me. He tripped himself on the chair and landed so hard on his back that he lost his breath; he couldn't catch himself with his hands. Oops. I was a little surprised that Betty hadn't stopped me yet, but she was probably as desperate as I was to end it all.

"Now..." I said aloud, picked up the chair that he had tripped on, lifted him in his neck and forcefully pressed him down on the chair again. "Talk."

"First of all; I want to know what I get in exchange for the information I intend to give you."

"You have already lost that benefit; right now you'll be rewarded your life if you tell us." Betty quietly coughed behind me. I sighed; though my way was working better than hers; she _was_ smarter than me (_don't tell anyone that I said that_) and knew more about stuff like this, so I trusted her judgment this time. "Alright... What do you want?"

"Um... hm... I want you to release a prisoner from Townsville's prison."

I looked at him with a frown. "Who?" I asked, stunned.

Him jumped in his seat as if I was going to sweep him again. "Anyone. If I hear that you have released someone, I know that I can trust you. Surely there must be someone there who is no danger to the city anymore?"

"Why?"

"I don't know, that was the first thing I came to think of..." he mumbled a little embarrassedly.

"The Gangreen Gang have been in there unnecessarily long..." I said thoughtfully.

"We're not going to let anyone out of jail." Betty said definitively.

But I pretended I didn't hear her: "Big Billy is actually quite harmless."

"Anyone is fine." Him repeated. "Then I will tell you what you'll have to do."

"Brooke! Isn't it pretty obvious that everyone in Townsville's prison has some kind of deal with him? So it doesn't matter if we get to choose - just about anyone will- "

I held up my hand to silence her - sure, maybe she's smarter than me; but _I_ wanted to sit in the driver's seat right now. "Why should we let someone out of there?" I asked him.

"We both know that most of the prisoners there have been caged for far too long." said the demon with raised eyebrows. "Surely there must be someone you can let out on parole?"

"And how do we know they have no kind of agreement with you?"

"When would I have had time to talk to any of them? What use do I have of others?"

"We're not letting-"

"So if we release Snake, for example?" I interrupted Betty again.

"If I read about it in the newspaper you can come back and get your information." said the demon, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't explain this to you in more details than this. I have no treaty with any of them."

"But how does it help you; if some random villain gets released?" I asked.

"Then I know that you listen to my demands; thus I know that I can trust you. Am I hard to understand; don't I speak clearly enough, or what's the problem?" He turned to Betty who looked grumpily at me.

"Don't give me that attitude." I warned him. "So we're releasing someone - _anyone_ \- from Townsville's prison. You read about it in the newspaper, and next time we stop by you'll tell us how we stop Liam?"

"Yes."

"That simple?"

"It's that simple."

"And we can put him in jail again right after you tell us?"

"If he deserves it, sure." he assured me.

"That sounds ridiculous." Betty muttered.

"Deal." I said, nodding, Betty moaning behind me.

"One more thing..." he murmured, lowering his voice. "Remember I will find out if you intend to trick me."

_I highly doubt that_.

…

Betty stopped me before I kicked off from the ground outside the white building. "What was all that about ?!" she shouted angrily through the blizzard. "Deal? No, we did _not_ agree on anything!"

"Calm down." I told her.

"How can I stay calm after that conversation? Don't you understand that you're playing right into the hands of someone who can _destroy_ mankind? Isn't it pretty obvious that everyone in Townsville's prison already knows what to do if they one day are released completely for no reason? Although he hasn't spoken to them lately, he's had _twelve years_ to plan everything! Do you remember that it was over twelve years ago that he revived the guys and mixed with Liam's DNA? He's had _twelve years_ to develop and shape his plan! Or...Wait… did he manipulate you? Does he have the same ability as Liam and made you believe in all this? Snap out of it!" She suddenly clapped her hands right in front of my face and made me jump.

"What are you- Quit that, you lunatic!" I said, backing up a step. "Are you going to calm down so I can explain what just happened?"

"Oh, this is going to be epic." she said sarcastically, crossing her arms across her chest.

"He said we could release _anyone_ we wanted, and right after we could arrest them again. Why don't we just take someone from the Amoeba boys and then lock him up a minute later? _They_ can't possibly have something planned together with the demon."

"But Him said he would find out if we tricked him!" She pointed to the white building that was barely visible in all the snow that swirled around us.

"I _have_ a plan B if you were too scared of that."

"Let's hear it, then!" Betty said impatiently.

"Who said we can't keep that prisoner somewhere else in the meantime?"

"You mean we should just move him and get the papers to _write_ that we released him? But technically we _did_ release him out of Townsville's prison; so it wouldn't be like we're lying. Not technically."

"Exactly."

"Oh..." Betty said in astonishment. "It's actually a great idea."

"Thanks. You don't have to sound so surprised." I muttered but couldn't help smiling.

"Sorry. But that explains everything. It was really good... it can actually work... " she became sunken in thoughts.

"Come on, let's go home. I'm actually starting to get hungry."

"Yeah, of course…"

Finally something happened.

**Professor**  
Betty and Brooke came home after only half an hour with good news. Him had agreed to give us more information about Liam if we promised to release a prisoner from Townville's prison. At first, I thought just like Betty told me _she_ had been thinking when Brooke talked to the demon; that he was trying to trick us. But after Brooke had given us her second plan, I didn't understand how we could fail.

"As long as we get _some_ more information on how to proceed, I don't see how this can be a bad idea." I said thoughtfully as we sat at the dinner table and had lunch. Becca, Leo and Irene was there too, of course. The twins were sleeping in the bassinette between Becca and Leo. "I don't see how the Amoeba boys can be dangerous to us, and don't see how they could have anything to do with Him. But why did he want that small favor?"

"He said it was the first thing he came to think of." Betty said, rolling her eyes.

"But in any case; it can't go wrong if we choose plan B." Brooke said. "Has Him ever won over us? He _is_ actually dumber than we make him sound like. He hasn't spent the last twelve years honing on a great plan to destroy us. He probably doesn't even have a clue on what he's doing right now... as usual."

"Hm..." I looked up at them both. "You've done good today. But I expected nothing else. Now we just need to plan how to do it. But first we have to give him fake news."

"How?" Betty asked.

"We have to know if Him keeps what _he_ promised by pretending we release a prisoner. We get the newspapers to write about it; without having let anyone out at all; and see if he swallows the bait. If he gives us real information - well, then we won - but if he gives us obviously false information, we know that he somehow finds out that we're tricking him. Therefore, we must have a plan C that we must start with. Or rather; plan A is the false plan; plan B is to capture one from the Amoeba boys and _then_ release him, and plan C is to move a prisoner elsewhere."

"Great idea." Irene said encouragingly. "That way we can be safe."

"So... should we notify the newspapers right away?" Brooke wondered skeptically.

"Can you even do that? I mean... aren't they afraid of losing readers?" Betty asked.

"I actually think that we have enough – excuse me - _power_, to write a small column at the bottom of a page."

"It won't be front page news?" asked Becca, who had decided to join the conversation.

"Of course not, it would've been too obvious." I said, looking at everyone. "We have to be a little discreet. Then, the day after, we get the newspapers to write that it was a misprint. No harm done."

"At least Mayor won't mind." Brooke muttered.

"I actually think he can do us this little favor." I assured her, taking a bite of my bread. "This will work. Don't worry about it."

**Bubbles**  
My friends, Mathilda, Ginger, Jessica and Henrietta, had grown so impatient and even a little suspicious after all my declines to let them come over to meet the twins. They really wanted to see them, and me of course, but I always said we were still trying to make ourselves at home. But it was a lie – and apparently they saw through me. In all honesty; I was still too scared to have them here. Anything could happen to them.

That time they were originally going to visit, the same day we found out that Luke and Liam had stolen and taken Chemical X, Jessica had been arguing with her boyfriend Calvin; so they had stayed in Townsville to comfort her. They had tried to call me to tell me, but since I had been too busy keeping track of what Luke was doing with my child, I had missed the call.

After that day, Mathilda sent me a text daily to ask if they could come over, and finally I gave in and invited them over.

It had been quiet for nine days now since Liam got away, and I still had to pretend that nothing had happened. It was a really bad idea to let anyone know what danger we were actually in, and that applied even to my best friends who would somehow say too much. I loved them, but being America's only hope; threatened by a demon and his apprentice; I can't see how they wouldn't panic. Somehow they would have shown that panic and got people to ask questions; questions they wouldn't be able to dodge since they were best friends with one of those said hope.

…

After lunch, after Betty and Brooke had talked to the demon Him in Russia, Betty went up to her room to rest and Brooke took over for me with Leo so I could calm my friends' nerves by letting them meet the twins. And in any case; I was in pretty desperate need of some normalcy in my life right now.

They got a ride by Jessica's boyfriend Calvin (whom she had made up with the same day they were fighting), but since he didn't know me and my family well, he went ahead and would retrieve them later. He was pretty shy so he didn't want to come in and say hi.

"I heard Zac live with his dad full time now." Henrietta said as she took off her winter boots in the vestibule.

"Yeah, it was much closer to school from there." I replied, took Ginger's jacket to hang it up on a hook.

"Wow! You lost weight fast! You can't even tell you gave birth only eleven days ago!" exclaimed Mathilda, looking at my body which was much thinner than it _should_ be eleven days after giving birth.

I nervously tucked at my sweater; didn't dare telling them that I had regained my powers - it would only had made them even more suspicious considering what I had talked to them about before. I had been hesitant to take Chemical X because I didn't know what would happen to the milk. And we were right - the milk was gone, so the twins only got formula…

"I've started doing some yoga and taking walks with the stroller since I gave birth. And I didn't actually gain much weight while I was pregnant - it was mostly my belly growing."

"You look good!" Jessica said.

"Really good." Mathilda agreed. "So... where are they?" She whispered excitedly.

"They're in the living room." I smiled and showed them the way.

Irene was sitting on the couch next to the bassinette where George and Eugene were. She looked up from the TV when my friends entered the room. "Hi, girls. Do you want to meet the twins?" She whispered with a wide smile. She was a better actress than I.

Mathilda softly approached the bassinette with Jessica close behind her. They stood above it, lying on the couch next to Irene, and looked down.

"Aaaaawe!" they breathed, and looked at each other, then looked down again.

"They're adorable!" Jessica whispered quietly, her eyes starting to get shiny.

"Who's who?" whispered Ginger who, not sure of what to do, stood behind the couch with Henrietta. But none of them could help but smile at the sight of my offspring.

"Uh..." Irene said, gently placing her hand on Eugene, who was wearing the light brown kick suit. "This is Eugene and the one in light blue is George."

"Is it their assigned colors?" Henrietta asked.

"Yeah, George always has light blue and Eugene always has light brown." I said and sat down on the other couch to leave my friends to watch the children in peace. "I hope that we will be able to tell them apart just from looking at their faces in the future; then they can choose their own colors."

George and Eugene didn't sleep, and moved a little as they looked around to see what was going on around them.

"They have your eyes." Mathilda noted, looking at me quickly before looking back at the twins; she didn't seem to be able to tear their eyes from them for very long. "But they look a bit more like Leo, don't they?" She turned to the others.

Ginger nodded. "When is he coming back, by the way?"

"He and—" I had time to say before the back door opened and Leo stepped into the living room.

"Oh, hey, so you guys were the ones that- I heard a car, but I had forgotten that-" He said a little stressed, but put a smile on his face rather quickly. "I was just gonna take a sandwich."

"We _just_ had lunch." I laughed nervously. Lucky I didn't tell my friends that he had moved to Texas with the rest of his family!

"I'm still hungry." Leo said a little offended.

"Didn't you move back to Texas with your family? I heard your dad had a job offer in Dallas?" Mathilda asked him as expected.

"Uh… no, I actually stayed behind. If _they_ aren't the reason of why, then I don't know what is." He said, pointing at the twins with both hands.

"But why aren't you in school, then?" Ginger asked. "We were actually really worried that we wouldn't see you again in a while!"

"Duh, he's taken a little time off to be with his children." Henrietta said, rolling her eyes. "But we want to see at least _one_ of you at school soon, understood?" she said with a sneaky smile at me and Leo.

"We haven't seen you in weeks..." Jessica complained. "But of course, we understand that you have to take care of these little cutsie-tootsie-pootsie-" she had to stop talking or else she would start to cry.

"We'll be back to school soon." I assured them, glancing at Leo who sheepishly passed me to the kitchen.

Now I would have to guard the house alone since Leo would be forced to go back to school to make it look like normal. Perfect.


	5. Chapter 4 - The voice

**The voice**

**Boomer**  
Thanks to me and my carelessness; I had made it so that Becca _alone_ would guard everyone in Forestville while the rest of us went back to school. I had tried to protest, but Professor insisted that we should continue to be discreet; nobody in the world was going to know what's going on right now.

Becca needed to stay home with the kids, and that was what her friends were told, but they didn't know we were threatened, so I had to go back to Townsville High. The school management knew only about the official reason for her absence, which was that she had a stomach ache. Fortunately, I could stay home this Friday and all weekend before Monday; and then I would have to go back and pretend like nothing. Professor was devising a plan to make sure that we were always two people staying at home and keeping watch from Liam. Surely we could push our classes together a little so that we could have certain days of the week completely free? Surely it couldn't be that hard?

Luckily, Thanksgiving was in about two weeks, then we would all get two extra days off from school, and not long after that, the Christmas holidays would begin. It felt so strange that I was looking forward to the days off from school again; which I thought I would never have to go back to; but now it wasn't the relief from the schoolwork I longed for, but it was because I didn't have time left for something as redundant as algebra or history, anymore.

**Buttercup**  
So now we were going back to school again; Betty, Leo, and I; and I couldn't be more tired of it than I already was. This Friday, though, we were going to try and trick Him into giving us more information on how to defeat Liam.

We started with the first plan, which was to pretend that we had released a prisoner from Townsville's prison, and the newspapers would write about it. But only _Townsville's_ newspaper; since it would have looked pretty weird if Townsville's, Citiesville's, Farmville's _and_ Forestville's papers had made the same misprint. At seven o'clock on Friday morning, the newspaper with the misprint arrived. Professor came out to the backyard where Betty, Becca, Leo, and I were waiting for him. Betty flew toward him when she saw him, took the Townsville Times from his hand and flipped through it until she found the page where the article about the release would be; Becca, Leo, and I stood behind her to read over her shoulder.

* * *

_**Gorgon Sedusa released from Townsville's prison**__ \- Last night, Thursday, November 18th at 7:30 PM, Sedusa was released from Townsville's prison._

_Her previous crimes between 1998 and 1999 gave her a prison sentence of up to four years, but only a year after she was released she returned to old habits (to seduce men and use her female charm to get her will through) and ended up in Townsville's prison yet again, in 2004, where the sentence was seven years, or five years for good behavior.__  
__ Sedusa has been found to be incriminating for six years in prison, and Chief of Police Mike Brikowski thought it was time to release her again._

_Below is his statement about the release last night:_

_"Sedusa shows no signs of wanting to go back to her former, criminal habits," said Police Chief Brikowski. "She has been very modest in recent years, so I see no risk in letting her go."_

_Sedusa is now free to roam the streets of Townsville, here is her comment on the matter:_

_"I feel that I have grown out of the criminal phase of my life. I mean, I don't get younger; so why waste my whole life behind bars?"_

_We will come back to Townsville's prison for more comments from the Police department about Sedusa's release, but for now we simply have to cross our fingers for her to live up to her promise._

_Written by journalist Epica Actionwriter._

* * *

"We won't be able to throw this off as a misprint tomorrow." Betty mumbled skeptically.

Leo took the newspaper from her to read more closely, and Professor replied: "We need to say that someone played them a prank instead." He shrugged. "It was a good try."

"It's going to work, dad." Becca said encouragingly.

"Let's take the newspaper to Him straight away." I said, pulling the Times out of Leo's hand.

Leo snatched it back from me. "It's my turn to talk to him."

The atmosphere immediately changed and became tense between us. Leo stared at me, just as ready to take this fight as I was.

"This is _my_ '_deal with the devil'_. Which is why _I_ should go." I said, trying to take the newspaper back. But Leo kept holding on to it without looking away from me. I snorted. "Give me... the newspaper..." I said threateningly with a smile – couldn't believe how he could be so stupid picking a fight with me.

"Quit it, both of you!" Said Betty.

"Professor said I could go next time." Leo replied without putting any attention to what Betty said. "Next time is _this_ time."

"Oh, did _Professor_ say that? _Baby_!"

"Calm down." said Professor, started backing off; he must have seen the expression on my face and knew what was about to happen.

"Brooke!" Becca yelled, but instead of trying to stop us, she picked up Professor and flew into the house with him.

**Blossom**  
"Drop the newspaper!" Brooke shouted at Leo, who had the paper in an iron grip between them both.

"This ain't only about _you_!" He roared back. Brooke's eyes turned bright green only a fraction of a second before Leo's glowed blue.

"STOP!" I shouted, but it was too late.

Their lasers, which they had released on each other the exact same second, met in the middle and formed an explosion between them. Fortunately, the explosion focused on _them_ and on the ground; otherwise the entire house would have been destroyed. A large, burnt gap opened between them and chips of paper and torn jackets spiraled down the hole.

Brooke flew at Leo with her fists. Leo; who didn't seem to want to hit her, just blocked the blows and pushed her away. Before Brooke could fly at him again, I ran and grabbed her by the arms from behind; turned myself into a straitjacket. Brooke released her arms from my grip and rubbed her hands against each other so that black smoke began to burst out of them. The smoke turned into a green flare which then formed into a fire orb which she threw at Leo.

Out of nowhere, Leo evoke a bright glowing baseball bat from his hands and threw it at the orb, knocking it astray; leading the orb to start heading straight toward us. Brooke just parried and pulled us both down to the ground where I continued to wrestle with her. The fireball flew in between the guest house and the woods behind us as the bat bounced off the ground and disappeared.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Becca roared, giving Leo such a hard slap over his face that it echoed through the forest and over the lake.

Brooke stopped fighting me; which was lucky since I couldn't hold her much longer; and just stared at Becca. None of us could recollect ever seeing her slapping someone before.

"YOU NEED TO STOP RIGHT NOW! I AM SO SICK OF YOUR BEHAVIOR! What do you think would have happened if that explosion had been bigger?! _Your_ _children_ are in there!" She yelled, pointing to the house where Professor stood and worriedly looked out at us through the living room window. "My _dad_ and his wife are in there! Our _mortal_ _family_!" Becca turned to Brooke, who limply hung in my arms on the ground. "You _both_ have to stop fighting each other! Save _some_ for Liam!" She turned back to Leo. "You should be ashamed of yourself! You stay here until _I_ say you can go. Got that?"

Leo looked down at her guiltily, rubbing his cheek where her slap had left a red hand-shaped mark. "Sorry..." he muttered.

I got up and helped Brooke on her feet; but instead of taking in what Becca had said, she just stared angrily at all three of us and kicked off the ground, flew around the forest and disappeared.

"Fantastic..." I moaned.

"Let her cool off." said Professor, who ventured out of the house and walked up to us. Leo sheepishly turned his gaze down to his feet as Professor approached him. But for some reason Professor didn't look angry. "What was that?" He asked Leo.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that, I-"

"No, not that." Professor shook his head. "The baseball bat you brought out from thin air. Do it again."

"Oh... yeah..." said Leo, reaching out his right hand and looked at it. "That was something I could do when I was a kid, I had no idea that I still could." Professor leaned closer to Leo's hand to see every detail. A bright yellow baseball bat suddenly appeared with a small poof in his outstretched hand.

"Can you do it again right away?" Asked Professor, taking the bat from him without hesitation.

Leo conjured a third bat, but at the same time the bat Professor held disappeared. "It doesn't seem like they're infinite in number. They disappear when I evoke a new one." Leo said.

"And you say you could do it before?"

"Yeah, I remember!" I said. "The second time we fought you. Becca fired an energy ball at you and you hit the ball with the bat - almost just like you did now."

**Bubbles**  
I saw a gentle smile playing over Leo's otherwise stiff and stressed face; something I hadn't seen in several days. "Maybe I should have invested in a career as a baseball player." he joked. He glanced at me, still with that playful smile I had missed so much.

"We should actually see if there are more things you can do; in case you have any other special abilities that Betty, Becca and Brooke don't have." said Professor and immediately sounded very curious… maybe even a little hopeful. "You can talk to animals; just like Becca, but neither of the other two can do it; and now we know that you can summon a baseball bat made of some kind of physical energy."

"And he can still open things that are locked." Betty added.

"I had completely forgotten about that! Can you show me?" Professor asked excitedly. He ran to the guesthouse and pulled out his key chain on the go. When he had locked the door, he turned to Leo who didn't take more than a second to catch up with him. "Now. Let's see."

Leo threw an unsure look at me; I nodded; before he reached the door and put one hand on the door handle. His hand started to glow and after only a second the lock clicked. He opened the door.

Professor stepped forward to inspect the lock. "You didn't break anything, you just unlocked it. Without a key…"

"That's how it works." Leo said with a shrug.

"What more can you unlock?"

"Everything you can unlock with a key - any key."

"Code lock?" Asked Professor, and Leo nodded. "Electric _and_ mechanical?" Leo nodded again. "Code _word_?"

"Like '_open, sesame_'?" Leo chuckled.

But Professor was serious. "Yeah. But that was of course only an example of a code word."

Leo thought for a while. "I've actually never tried. But maybe?"

"Your abilities can be useful..." Professor seemed to be sunk in thought. "I only need to think of _what_. Whose turn is it to rest now, by the way?"

"Mine and Leo's." I answered.

"Do you have time? Just a minute?" Professor asked Leo.

"Of course." He turned to me. "You can go to bed. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." I said, but before bed I flew in to the main house where our sons were with Irene. After all, I couldn't go to bed without saying good night to them first. Or good morning.

**Professor**  
Betty flew up and sat on the roof while Leo and I stood in the backyard, testing his various powers. So far, we had only discovered the usual powers that my daughters also possess; the laser having the same color as their eyes; the strength (the guys have always been a little stronger than the girls); flight; speed; X-ray; night vision, and the energy orbs. But he also had his own that were; ability to open locked items with his hands; talk to animals; and be able to summon a baseball bat out of energy.

After ten minutes it didn't seem like we could find more hidden powers. Firstly; I couldn't know exactly _how_ strong or fast he was; then I needed someone else with powers to compare with; and right now all my daughters were busy either guarding, sleeping or running from home. Secondly; we still needed to focus on the smallest sign that Liam might be nearby, and thirdly; we had no time to lose when it came to getting the information we needed from the demon today.

"Okay then, we're done here. You can go rest now." I told Leo after we had discussed his various powers.

"I'll wait until Brooke come back." he replied. "Betty shouldn't have to be out here by herself – just in case."

"You're right, and I'll try to get hold of Brooke."

"She doesn't answer her cellphone." Betty said from the roof.

"She will answer when I call." I said just before I went back into the house.

**Blossom**  
Exactly seven seconds after Professor closed the door behind him; Brooke's glowing green light reappeared.

"Where were you?" I asked her.

But instead of answering, she just landed on the roof and sat down. "You can go to bed now, Leo." she told him expressionlessly.

Leo, who had previously stayed in the same place where Professor left him a few seconds ago, walked into the guest house without saying a word back to Brooke.

"When are we going?" She asked me.

"Leo and Becca need to sleep. We'll be flying in a few hours."

"How many?"

"Five tops."

"I can talk to him myself." She muttered impatiently, almost on the brink of standing up.

"Stay, Brooke." I warned her, looked around the area and flew over to the roof of the guest house. "What's up?" I whispered.

"I just want to get this over with."

"Did something happen?" I insisted.

"I can take care of myself."

"Brooke. Please, talk to me. What did you see?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly. "Okay? I didn't see anything. I just needed to calm down. That's why I flew off."

But Brooke didn't look calmed; she rather looked like a drug addict with abstinence. She sat on the roof with her knees pulled up to her body and rocked back and forth almost imperceptibly; staring straight forward with empty, sunken eyes with dark bags under them.

I sat down next to her and continued to listen to all the sounds around us. "Hey... I'm not gonna talk to you about everything that's happened; I know you don't want to talk about it anyway."

"You're right." She said.

"I want to get him as much as you do; but we have to wait until Becca and Leo have rested, because what if… what if we fly to Russia and Liam shows up here? Becca and Leo are sleeping and don't react fast enough-"

"He only needs a second." Brooke agreed.

"Right… that's why it's so important for us to keep ourselves rested, satisfied and strong. Alert. As soon as Becca and Leo have reached the stage that they have recovered fully; then we can leave this place behind us; put the responsibility on their shoulders." It looked like I had reeled her in. "That's why it's so important that you also rest and eat properly; since just about any second; he can show up and-"

"I don't need to sleep… or eat."

I sighed. I thought I had finally broken through her thick skin; that she would finally start listening to me. But I was wrong.

**Buttercup**  
Betty flew back to her place and let me be the rest of the time we kept watch together. I didn't tell her that during the twenty minutes I had been away I'd been looking; tracing; but of course completely without results. I had flown all over the states in just a few seconds but hadn't combed out the country that properly. When I had been in every city in Africa I gave up and sat down in the middle of a mountain in Canada; I still needed to be nearby. It was so quiet there that I could begin to think again; something I had previously tried to avoid. As I sat there on the mountain, listened to the silence, the breeze as it blew over the mountain peaks and the snow... I heard it; the voice...

_Brooke_.

A whisper, only a breath... My name echoed across the mountains, but I didn't know where it came from, and after a few seconds my cellphone in my pocket started ringing. It was Professor. Instead of answering, I just flew home again.

I don't remember when I had enough sleep last time... or... it was actually almost ten days ago I'd slept a whole night without issues, but now I could only sleep for an hour before waking up without being able to fall asleep again. That's when I just flew off and started tracking every night; pretended to sleep to satisfy the others. If they knew how little I _really_ slept, they probably would have forced me into taking sleeping pills; but I really wasn't prepared for that.

Nor was _sleeping_ the solution to all this. The solution was to find the reason as to _why_ I can't sleep, and eliminate it. No temporary sleep remedy in the world can fix this for me.

The creepiest of all this was that my dreams and reality were starting to blend together; it was like I couldn't tell what was dream or reality anymore.

Sometimes I saw his eyes... heard his voice... felt his scent...

These thoughts are dangerous... I will descend into nothing again...

…

After only a few hours we were off again with the newspaper inside my jacket (it was an old ugly jacket since my leather jacket had been ripped into pieces in the explosion earlier that day). We flew over Russia's forests and landed for the third time outside one of the world's most dangerous prisons – though it wasn't the building itself that was dangerous; but it was the people trapped inside. The first time we were here was when we left Him, and the other were when we made the deal. So this would be the charm.

The two guards from yesterday led us through the building again and stayed outside the doors when we arrived at Him's cave - which was just as cold as last time. Him sat on the chair in the middle of the room, but without the straining jacket this time.

"_You_ don't need any protection from _it_." said the big guard, glancing at me and chuckling. "But _it_ might need a chance to defend itself."

I laughed too, laughed at the thought of the guard calling Him an _it_. "So very kind of you."

Betty, who didn't think we were particularly funny, walked in front of me to the middle of the room to greet the demon. "Hello, again." she said without pretending to be polite this time.

"Two visits in two days; lucky me." said the demon with a playful smile. "Well? How did it go?"

I pulled out the newspaper from the pocket of my jacket (we had to get another one since Leo and I trashed the first one) and handed it to him. He turned to the right page, began to read, and then gave it back expressionlessly.

"So... how are we going to stop him?" I asked.

"Just give him Antidote X and lock him up." he answered, waving us off as if we were done.

I looked at Betty who looked exhausted back. In some incredible way, he had understood that we were tricking him. "Is that all?" I asked through clenched teeth. "Is that really all we need to do to stop him?"

He shrugged. "Yes? It's not harder than that."

"Do we get real information if we release the prisoner for real next time?" I asked, unable to pretend anymore.

"Of course."

"Good." I turned around, thinking about walking back to the doors, but stopped when the demon started talking again.

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk_... Are you trying to fool a poor caged old man?"

"That's not what _I_ would call you." I said, turning to him again with a sigh. "I am tired of your games, just give us information..."

"As soon as you have done something for me - _for real_ \- I will give you what _you_ want." He replied, still expressionless. "Favors… and favors in return."

There was no reason to stay any longer, so I walked out the doors with Betty behind me. We were escorted out again by the guards and flew home.

We told everything to Professor who sighed. "I'll make some calls. But we'll continue with plan B right away."

**Blossom**  
Leo and I flew around the city to find the Amoeba boys. Somehow we needed to have them accompany us to Townsville's prison; but I really didn't think they would mind. They loved being caught after all; and the reason was inessential.

"Where do you think they are?" Leo asked after checking the huge pipes at Townsville's treatment plant.

"I really have no idea." I mumbled. "Wanna look in the park again?"

We flew across and through the city; asked people if they had seen the amoebas; and after twenty minutes we finally saw something green and murky in a trash can outside the Italian restaurant by the railroad. We landed and looked down into the trash; but it was just an old, green, debatable aspic that the chefs had thrown out...

We continued to search, even starting to half-heartedly call for them until we gave up and sat down on a large rock near the river that ran all over Townsville, all the way from a large lake up in the mountains. I glanced at Leo, who sat a few feet from me with his face buried in his hands. When he looked up again, his face was red and mushy from exhaustion, and his hair stood in all directions.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Tired. Stressed…" he replied honestly and sighed, staring straight in front of him at the park opposite us. "I don't know what to do anymore. Even though I have super powers and am among the most powerful beings in the entire universe - I feel powerless. There is _one_ that will always be more dangerous than me; and I can't do anything about it. And that's not all..." he chuckled sadly, suddenly looked insane. "... it's my own _brother_ I have to defeat. My own… brother… who I grew up with."

"I'm sorry for that." I said truthfully. "I can't even imagine how it would feel to have to fight any of my sisters… But that's also why we're asking Him to help us - to see if we can do something to help Liam rather than destroy him."

"You're just too kind-hearted, Betty, just like Becca and Professor." He made the word _kind-hearted_ sound more like _naive_. He shook his head.

"Of course." I said, taking it as a compliment. "Professor has taught us to always give people a second chance. Even Liam deserves it."

"I can't agree with that. Didn't you notice how he fought you last time?"

"He was mad at us; just like Luke."

"But Luke never fought you. He didn't _actually_ hit me, either... " Leo might finally forgive his red-eyed brother. "But Liam; he was totally... I have- I've seen that expression on his face before. I _know_ he wasn't going to give up until he had... won."

"What was the expression?" I asked cautiously.

Leo smiled tiredly at me. "Let's leave it at that I know him well enough to know that he doesn't deserve a second chance. He has a darkness within him that neither I nor Luke have; something about him is really... evil."

I started to recognize the conversation; something about Liam and his way of being... Didn't Luke tell me that it was something Liam was involved in that caused Charles to abruptly break up the family with their roots and move to Washington? Something about his dead friend... But he had also said that Liam was no longer like that; that he had changed. But _what_ had changed? That he was no longer a murderer, or that his friend's death taught him that he shouldn't get himself into the business of dangerous people? I began to suspect the first, but didn't _want_ to believe it, didn't want to believe that he was actually once inclined to kill another person.

"He's not evil." I said, a little defiant. "He's sick, and it's something Him did with Liam's DNA when he revived you; you know that too. We'll fix him, he'll be back to normal."

"Are you sure about that?" Leo glared at me. "Are you sure we can fix him before he strikes again? Maybe he has nothing unspoken with my sons; but he can quite easily use them against me if he sees me as a threat. Next time he'll take Professor... or Dainton..."

"Stop." I whispered, feeling a burning and at the same time freezing sensation in my chest. "Don't say that..."

"I's true, Betty! And you have to start realizing that just about _anything_ can happen! _Anyone_ is next on his list of dying! You have to be prepared for the worst!"

I glanced back at Leo, contemplating continuing the argumentation, but just sighed and stared across the water again. "Let's not talk about this now, okay?" Something green caught my attention in the yellow grass in the park. "There they are!"

The Amoeba boys walked - slid, as they had no legs - slowly through the park without having any particular goal on their minds. Leo and I landed in front of them.

"Do you want to go to jail?" I asked them excitedly; but my way of talking made them think I was angry.

"What have _we_ done?" Asked Bossman, the leader of the gang.

"You've spread a virus again, come here." said Leo as planned, trying to get hold of Skinny Slim; the longest of them. But his hand just slid right through the amoeba.

"Quit it!" Skinny Slim said.

"I can come along." said Tiny, the smallest.

"Wait!" Bossman said suspiciously. "What _kind_ of virus is it?"

"A very, very dangerous virus." I answered impatiently. "People die."

"People die?" Skinny Slim asked worriedly.

"Yes! So we have to imprison you so that you don't spread it even further!" Leo almost shouted.

The leader looked at Leo and then at me, then shrugged. "Okay."

**Professor**  
Betty and Leo returned an hour after they left, and told us that they had found the Amoeba boys and put them in Townsville's prison. Now we would just have to wait until the evening before releasing them again, and call the Mayor who would pass the message on to the Townsville Times.

**Bubbles**  
The trees around me creaked from the ever-increasing wind. Birds flew screaming up into the dark sky, and the dim light from the moon didn't reach the ground between the firs where I stood. It was not like I had gone out into the woods on a walk, nor did I feel particularly scared; but I was waiting for something - something I didn't even know what it was. A sound that from a branch being broken caused me to turn around, but I saw nothing that could have produced the sound. It could as well have been the wind that tore down a branch from one of the crackling trees.

A whispering voice made me look to the right. "_I'm here._" But the voice echoed around me, as if it had no origin. "_Come on._" the voice urged me on.

I began to stagger in the direction I was looking, without knowing if I was going in the right direction. I stumbled across a root but didn't fall. Eventually I stumbled out on a large field, the woods around were dark and the wind continued to grow in strength.

In the middle of the field stood a dark figure with green, glowing eyes. "_Don't follow me!_" The voice echoed across the field.

"_Stay there!_" I said back, even though I had tried to shout, it was as if my voice was far too weak, far too exhausted - as if I had been running around in that forest for hours.

"_You shouldn't have come._" Brooke whispered, looking up at the stormy sky; as did I.

Above us, the clouds swirled, lit up by green and blue flashes and growling noise, explosions made me constantly jump.

"_Stop!_" I shouted as the next figure appeared in the field, a few feet from Brooke.

It was Liam. His eyes also shone green as they looked at Brooke. Liam's smile played across his face and his tall and wide body made him look like a giant next to her.

"_Brooke!_" I tried to shout and started running, but the field was full of mud and I sunk further and further down. "_Leo!_"

A dark blue glow lit the sky and a third dark figure stood between Brooke and Liam, with glowing blue eyes. Leo stood protectively in front of Brooke, not looking away from Liam. Liam just laughed, shot a green flash - not a laser - from his eyes and hit Leo straight in the face. I tried to scream, but no sound came out of my mouth as the mud swallowed my whole body, leaving only my head poking out of it.

Liam stepped over Leo's motionless body and continued walking towards Brooke, who for some reason smiled back. He grabbed her waist and pressed her against himself; Brooke turned her face to him and they kissed each other.

"_No!_" I screamed angrily. "_He killed Leo!_"

But Brooke didn't even notice me; she let go of Liam and flew straight up into the air and disappeared. Liam turned to me and walked slowly towards me.

Only my head was above the surface as he stood above me. "_Don't you get it that you're all alone now?_ _Feeling powerless yet?_" He whispered, shooting a green beam straight at my face.

"Becca?"

My vision gradually became sharper as a wave of electricity slowly disappeared from my face and continued down towards my toes. I looked at a drawer in front of me that I had never seen before while trying to remember where I was. The growls and explosions were still sounding above me, so I wasn't really sure if I was still out in the field or not. Had I survived Liam's laser?

"Becca? Are you awake?" Someone next to me asked, and I looked at them.

When I saw Leo's anxious face, it dawned on me that I was sitting in bed in my and Leo's bedroom, and it was my own drawer I had been looking at but hadn't recognized in my sleepy state.

"It's just a dream." I whispered, my mouth and throat feeling dry. I reached for the nightstand where my glass of water was still standing from this morning. "What time is it?" I asked after I had swallowed a large sip of water.

"Half past four."

"PM?"

"AM."

"But I was going to keep watch!" I said, and flew out of bed.

"We let you sleep - you needed it." Leo muttered, standing in the middle of the room. His clothes were soaked and his hair was dripping. A small pool of rain water had formed underneath his feet.

"Brooke needs it more than me. Where is she?" I put on a pair of jeans and one of Leo's big white hoodies that hung on the door.

"She kept watch with me, I just came in here to check on you. We thought you were talking to someone."

"Did I talk?" I turned to him with my hand on the door knob.

"You said something about someone killing me...?"

"I didn't know I was sleep-talking..." I mumbled.

"You don't; that's why I wanted to check on you." Leo looked at me seriously. "You had a dream about _him_... didn't you?"

I sighed and stood in front of him. "It sucks that he can affect us all this much."

"This is one of the most dangerous situations we have ever been in. Someone's threatening us... someone we know; someone who knows _us_. But I ain't gonna let anyone come near you, our sons, or anyone in our family ever again."

"You're probably right… we'll get through this. I'm not going to let him hurt any of you, either." I said, leaning my forehead against Leo's wet chest. "I'll get a rain coat, then I'll take over. You can rest."

"It's a quite the storm out there." Leo agreed. "Come get me if you need to talk."

"And you can just call me." I kissed him and flew out to the hall where our jackets were hanging, then I went out in the storm to help Brooke guard.

**Buttercup**  
Five minutes to seven on Saturday morning, Betty joined Becca and me on the roof that was wet and slippery from the rain from last night. It had blown up to storm at midnight which didn't pass until half an hour before Betty woke up.

"Good morning." she mumbled, standing next to me. "Your turn to sleep, I guess?"

"Yeah." I replied. "I'm just gonna pick up the newspaper. I hear the mail man at the main road."

"Come right back afterwards." Becca said seriously.

I sighed and kicked off from the roof. Couldn't they just stop worrying about me? Seriously, I was able to take control of my own life.

In less than a second, I landed next to the yellow mail car parked at a house with the engine on. "Good morning, Miss Utonium." The postman greeted me after he had put in the letters and the morning newspaper in the mailbox; of course he knew who I was.

"Good morning." I said; trying to smile back, but it was like I had forgotten how to do that. "I was just going to fetch our mail."

"Alright! Let's see here…" said the postman, opening the side door to his van and began to dig in a large white sack. "Ah! Here you go. Utonium." He handed me a bundle of letters, commercial papers and this morning's Townsville Times.

"Thank you." I said as I received the mail.

"Early morning?" He asked with a friendly smile, he must have mistaken my facial expression for tiredness.

"Yeah, sure." I mumbled, tried to smile again and flew home, but I could hear him muttering "_celebrities_", with a quiet whining behind me.

Professor and Irene sat in the kitchen with the twins while having their morning coffee. I put the newspaper on the table in front of him. He opened the page without saying anything to me and started reading. "Good..." he mumbled. "Who are awake now?"

"Only Leo is sleeping."

"Which of you girls should go to bed?"

"Well… me." I admitted. "But I can fly with the newspaper to Him, it only takes a few minutes."

"Brooke..." Professor sighed with one hand on his face, rubbing his eyes. "Please, can't you just lie down for a few hours first?"

"Fine." I muttered. "But wake me up before you decide anything." I left them in the kitchen and flew out to my bedroom to sleep. Although I already knew it was not going to work.

As soon as I was underneath the covers, I felt my tired muscles twitching, felt the heat behind my eyelids, felt my heart yearning to relax. The sleep was there, but something in my brain told me to stay awake, to keep track of all the sounds around me. I heard the last geese and other birds flying south, heard the cars on the road, heard Betty's and Becca's breathing, the drops falling to the ground from the roof, a fox wedging around the bushes outside the window, the dogs chasing one another inside their exhibit, Irene and Professor who talked about such trivial things as the weather from inside the house. It wasn't silent enough for me to relax.

A voice breathed in my ear: "_I miss you, Love._"

I jumped as if someone had shocked me with defibrillators and sat up in bed, flung myself on my cellphone on the nightstand to see what time it was - apparently I had been asleep for a few minutes. I sank down on the pillow again and breathed violently; this was the exact reason why I didn't want to sleep - every time I tried, I woke up the exact second I fell into slumber.

With a moan I put the pillow over my face, tried to calm myself down, but my heart continued to thump like never before. I tried to suppress the voice I had heard, the voice I always heard before falling asleep. If I kept thinking about it, I was afraid to disappear forever. Not physically, but mentally.

Insanity was constantly knocking on my door.


	6. Chapter 5 - Backsplash

**Backsplash**

**Professor**  
Half past eight in the morning I went upstairs with a tray in my hands, knocked on Luke's bedroom door, and walked in after he had given me permission to enter. "Good morning." I told him.

Luke's eyes widened by the sight of me, and muted the television with the remote. "Good morning, Professor." he said hastily. I put the tray on the desk by the door. "You didn't have to bring me breakfast, Betty usually does."

"She asked me to do it today so she could guard." I said, walked up to the bed and gently lifted Luke's torso to push pillows behind him so he could sit up. He was very heavy but I didn't let him notice (he also helped as best he could with his left arm since the right was still in a cast).

"Thank you." he said a little embarrassedly. "And I understand that she has to guard, I wasn't expecting-"

"No problem at all." I interrupted him kindly, picked up the tray from the desk and put it in his lap. "I also wanted a chance to talk to you a little, if you are in good condition? I can come back in an hour or so."

"I have time now." he said a little confused, taking a bite of the sandwich.

**Brick**  
"Thank you, Luke." Professor sat down on the chair by my bed and looked at me. "But please tell me if it becomes difficult."

What was this? Was he afraid of me? On second thought; I _was_ pretty well known around here for having a hot temper, but he didn't have to be so gentle with me.

"Sure." I promised him, trying to correct my facial muscles; I must have looked a little angry, now to think of it. But that was just the way I looked with my thick eyebrows and the long scar across my face! I had finally been able to check myself out after all that had happened; the scar deformed my right eyebrow; my right eye and the right side of my mouth – as if I wasn't already short and ugly... Oh, well, it was just to keep going as usual. I was lucky _Betty_ still thought that I looked completely okay. Sigh.

"I would like to talk to you about Liam, but surely you had already figured that out?" Said Professor and I nodded, sipped my apple juice. "I want you to tell me _everything_ from the moment you found out we had given you Antidote X."

"Oh, that's a lot." I mumbled.

"Just try to remember as much as possible. You can start by telling me _how_ you found out that you couldn't turn invisible anymore."

I had no desire to explain myself to him, but I was indebted to Professor and his family; that they even let me stay here after all I had done was mind-blowing. "Okay… I was skipping classes and fell asleep on a couch, but a hall monitor woke me up and sent me to the Principal's office. And when I left I tried to turn invisible since I didn't want anyone to see that I had been there. That's how I found out I couldn't do it anymore." I said, throwing myself into the story.

"You tried to turn invisible before going to sleep on the couch; am I right?" Professor curiously asked without sounding judgmental and I nodded. "That's why the hall monitor found you; but you didn't understand _then_ that you had failed to do so?"

I kept nodding. "And when I left the office I found myself staring into my own eyes in a mirror across the staircase, and couldn't turn no matter how hard I tried, and then I ran into… Liam. He told me in a very smug way that he knew everything about your plan."

"Tell me everything in detail; exactly _what_ did he say?" Professor leaned forward and looked me straight in the eye.

"Uh… It started with me telling him I couldn't turn invisible and he asked me to try to open a door with a code lock. I held my hand on the handle without anything happening; and I discovered that I could no longer unlock doors. He kind of… laughed… and shrugged, and told me we had been given Antidote X."

"Go on." said Professor as I stopped talking.

"I asked him how he knew, and he said something about being good at reading his surroundings. That's when I got angry and sought out Betty. I took her to the football field to talk to her undisturbed, and Liam followed. Once there, Liam told us that he had heard me and Betty talk about him earlier; that time I told Betty I suspected he had a split personality. He had eavesdropped on us.  
Then he told us that he knew everything even _before_ he got A X; it was because of us suddenly getting sick from right and left, and that we were now suddenly gonna take a _vaccine_. That's how he knew."

"So he _had_ actually figured it out already..." muttered Professor with a sigh. "And pardon; A X?

"Antidote X..." I said quietly.

"It's a good abbreviation. Now, proceed. Tell me about when you got angry, I mean; why did you decide to get back at Beatrice?"

"Oh..." I swallowed; trying to remember the details the way Professor wanted them was hard. Gosh, this started to feel like a therapist appointment! "It was probably when Liam said that the entire plan was actually meant for him, but that I was also forced to take Antidote X though I didn't need to, when I had been the one who warned you about him... And that Leo was off the hook…" I started feeling like a little child that only wanted to complain about every single thing in my life, but Professor wanted the deets, so… "I got angry with Betty because... well, I heard you discuss this outside the other day."

"Would you have taken A X voluntarily if you knew everything from the beginning?" He asked, using the new abbreviation. He seemed very understanding without judging me too hard; and this was the first time we were alone in a room…

"Of course!" I said quickly, without even thinking about it, since it was the truth. "I'd do everything for Betty; I could die for her if it was what she wanted; and I was convinced she knew that." I felt my face getting warm; perhaps I had revealed too much to the father of my love interest?

Professor looked at my face, listened to my words... It actually _felt_ like he understood the meaning of what I had said, and I started to blush. He straightened his back. "That's where we made our first mistake; we should have let you in." he mumbled, looking out the window above the bed. It started feeling like he was blaming me (duh, of course) but like I was some uncontrollable, predictable, stupid animal that you had to deal with in a certain way if you didn't want to suffer the expected consequences. "That's when you decided to take revenge? When you found out that Leo didn't have to take A X, but you had to?"

Without noticing the feelings of guilt that once again flared up inside me, I told him all mine and Liam's conversations after him, Charles, and Daniella had returned home from the dinner with the Utoniums.

"He manipulated you... And it sounds like you somehow knew that, but still couldn't control your actions afterwards. Did he establish eye contact all throughout the conversation in his bedroom?"

"No." I said thoughtfully. "He was actually just talking. I probably didn't look at him once."

Professor sighed big, exhausted. "I was afraid of that..." he said as if that information was what he had suspected, but was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Why?"

"Unlike Sedusa who uses eye contact to deceive men; Liam doesn't even have to _look_ at his victim - it's enough that it listens to his voice."

I reacted to the word _victim_, but said nothing about it. "Have they been to Him yet?" Something had to be done; soon Liam would come back and start to use this super-brain-power of his on all of us.

"No, not yet." Said Professor. "They're probably going pretty soon. But we're not finished yet. I still need to know what went through your mind that night; what happened after Liam talked you into it? How did you get here? How did you break in without detection?"

I continued the story; we had borrowed Christopher Snyder's car; I snuck into the house alone because I was good at it; we took Chemical X together, and in the car we planned how we would pretend like nothing in school the next day; how I should look absolutely irresistible to Betty, make her jealous.

I told him that last part with blushing face and tightened jaw muscles. I was so ashamed of myself, and Professor sensed that there was something going on between us, but didn't want to ask me about it. "… I almost blew my cover when she tried making me angry at the end of the school day. Had she proceeded – had I started screaming at her – I think that we could've solved the fight then and there."

"But your plan of making her jealous had succeeded, and therefore she gave up in trying to make you angry?"

"Yes… she flew off before anything happened. And then you know the rest; I flew out into the woods where I ran into Leo and Becca…"

After a short moment of silence, I watched Professor's face; he just sat there, pondered. He began to speak again after a long exhale. "I still don't understand..."

"What don't you understand?" I asked.

"Why _Liam_ wanted to do it... Why he stayed in this state of anger." Professor looked at me again, with a stated smile. "You got mad, but you regretted it. As you said; I know everything that happened by the road when you fought Leo and the girls. Betty told me you were trying to save her from Liam - you fired a laser at him; and Becca saw you protecting George every time someone came too close, and how you basically sacrificed your life for him when Liam fired a laser at you. You _really_ didn't _want_ to fight - deep down.  
What I can't understand is _why_ he's so angry with us... What does he want us to do..."

I just remembered the creepiest and most unexplainable detail that night. "In the car, before we took Chemical X, he got this weird look on his face and said; '_she thought she could outsmart me_'. He talked about Brooke."

"Does Brooke know about it?" Professor asked breathlessly, chewed on his fingernails.

"I don't think so, I haven't told anyone." I hurried to say.

"Good. Let it remain that way. She can't know. Understood?" He said with narrow eyes.

"I'm not going to tell anyone." I promised.

**Buttercup**  
Wasn't it _just_ perfect that just about everything kept me awake right now - after Professor's and Luke's little talk; which I had obviously overheard with the help of my super hearing I could no longer disconnect; I couldn't see how I could ever fall sleep, ever again. I _had_ known this all along but didn't want to believe it - it was _me_ he was after, and he wasn't going to let anyone in my family get in the way of his revenge.

This does it then, once and for all – _I_ have to be the one to find him first.

**Blossom**  
For the fourth time, we; Brooke and I; flew to that Russian prison in the woods where it was always winter. We were escorted through the corridors and were allowed to enter Him's cave. We had been here three days in a row, and I discovered that the guards had started to fall a little suspicious. We had interrogated prisoners many times before, but if the guards noticed that we couldn't figure it out soon they would think that we had met a dead end - that something seriously dangerous threatened us. But I couldn't let myself pay more attention to that now, it was more important to focus on the task that got us here - the rest was Professor's territory.

The demon sat on the chair as usual and welcomed us. "Three visits!" He cheered as he saw us. "Maybe I should offer you a cup of tea?"

"No, thank you." Brooke replied, handing over the newspaper to Him.

After reading the latest news of the Amoeba boys being released, and that yesterday's news had only been a prank from one of the print workers who had now been fired, he returned the paper to Brooke with a polite smile.

"So?" She asked.

"You could try kissing him?"

Brooke roared as she looked straight up at the ceiling. She turned to the demon with bright green eyes.

"You better give us real information." I sighed, not caring what Brooke planned to do with him.

"Wait, wait, wait!" He said hastily. "That _is_ real information! He's been restored now, right? You haven't tested it since you were little because they haven't had any powers since then; but now he got his powers back! Don't you understand?"

"Are you sure?!" Brooke yelled. "Are you _sure_ that's really how it works?!"

"Not a hundred percent..."

"BE A HUNDRED PERCENT SURE!"

"I'm maybe ninety percent sure..." he whispered, backing away from Brooke's fury.

"There's no way to test that." I said. "We don't even know where he is."

"I don't know." He shrugged. "You only wanted to know how to stop him; what more do you want from me?"

"It doesn't work anyway." Brooke said spitefully, turning to me. "Leo would have disappeared a long time ago, but considering what happened the second time, he would only grow bigger-"

I elbowed Brooke in her ribs.

"Leo?" Him asked.

Brooke froze with her eyes closed as I groaned. We really didn't want the demon to know so much about us already. With a sting of understanding, I realized that Him had said that thing about kissing Liam deliberately; he tested us to see if we would reveal anything he didn't know yet. But how could I not detect it? I had never let anything slip past my logical thinking! Never…

"Has more than Butch got their powers back?" His eyes glowed with excitement.

"Yes." I just said, and Brooke gave me a reproachful look. "_You_ shouldn't have told him about Leo!"

"But we could have explained ourselves!" She yelled at me. "_I_ could've made something up to cover-"

"Think before talking next time, instead!"

"So Leo? Is he the one with blue eyes?" Him asked curiously.

"NO!" Cried Brooke, raising her hand to slap him and his arms flew back to cover his face. But Brooke stopped herself and relaxed.

"Is he on your side?" The demon whispered, still with his arms protective over his head.

I sighed. "Yes. But what does it matter?"

"I want to see him."

"That's out of the question!" Said Brooke.

"If you bring _him_ next time I can give you valuable information. For real."

"What happened to those ninety percent?" Muttered Brooke.

"Okay, I didn't know." He snapped. "But try not to fool me one more time and bring... Leo next time you visit. Then I will help you."

"Do you mean it now?" I asked.

"Crossing my heart." He made a cross on his chest with one claw and leaned back with one leg over his knee, casting a quick glance at the ceiling before looking at Brooke again with a self-assured grin. "Don't you believe me? Wanna pinky swear?"

"Are you kidding me?" She said, looking at his waving claw as if he pretended to have a finger.

"Come on." said the demon with a wicked smile. "Make the deal. You want to stop him, right? Before anything happens…"

Brooke looked like she was fuming, and that she was going to punch him again. Then she closed her eyes, growled and took a deep breath. She looked up with a stern face. "Alright!" she murmured, tangling her pinky with his claw. "But if you trick _us_ again, you'll have to answer to _me_!"

"Deal…"

I glanced up at the ceiling, at the open window with iron bars; all open to let the freezing cold into the room. Snow swirled in and created a pile on the stone floor beneath it.

We stopped outside the building before flying home and I turned to Brooke. "I think someone outside gives him information of us tricking him all the time."

"What do you mean _outside_?"

"I don't know... But how else could he find out that we're tricking him? Unless one of the guards helps him…"

"Betty, listen to yourself; how should the guards know what we're doing?"

"Oh, I don't know!" I said, squatted down with my hands in front of my face. "How does he find out _anything_? Should we ask the guards to move him down to the basement? Where there are no windows?"

"_Who_ would stand outside the window and shout information about us? You know it's like _twenty_ _feet_ up in the air? And _someone_ would actually _hear_ if a human being is standing underneath that window, _shouting_ _secrets_ of our family! And how could _that_ person know what we are doing?"

"I don't know!" I said for the third time, got up and sighed. "Maybe they're talking in a cellphone? Or throwing a note to each other through the bars?" Brooke was about to start yelling again. "Okay! But how does he find out about everything then?"

"He has powers that we cannot explain..."

"... which shouldn't work in cold temperatures!"

"Maybe we were wrong about that?"

"He would've broken out of prison a long time ago if that was the case." I pondered a little. "If it isn't his plan... he wants something from us... Something he could only get through barter."

"He _has_ no plan!" Said Brooke angrily. "Why do you all insist on that? All he has now is the demon he created to defeat us on his own! That demon is plotting under it's own steam. _Him_ does not control Liam!"

"But he knows something, and he finds out that we are tricking him." I felt like I was repeating myself over and over.

Brooke sighed again. "What do you want us to do, then?"

"If I bring Leo tonight, maybe he'll tell me something?"

"He still wants us to release a prisoner."

"We'll continue with plan C, but I'll still bring Leo tonight." I said definitively.

"Well, fine!"

**Boomer**  
Betty woke me up in the afternoon and asked me to accompany her to the prison in Russia later that evening. Of course, I didn't say no - anything is better than staying here all day. "Didn't Brooke want this to be her territory?" I asked Betty, who sat on the dresser behind the door. Yesterday Brooke and I had been fighting so much about this that she had thrown a fireball at me that I fended off with my energy bat.

"Yeah... but we accidentally told him that you had your powers back; so he wanted to meet you."

"Does he know that I have powers?"

"And that you're on our side. And I'm quite sure he also knows that you have a relationship with one of us..."

"Does he know that I have children?" I asked with my heart in my throat.

"No, we didn't say anything about that." Betty mumbled, but she looked down on her lap. The risk was great that Liam had already told the demon; if he worked for him now. "Just that you have powers and is involved with us. So you're coming then? We'll fly straight after dinner."

"I'm coming."

**Professor**  
Charles Berger had officially bought Cosby's white; if you could now call it that; house on the other side of the lake, and I sent Brooke to help him carry things over from their old house in Townsville - the most important thing was that his wife could be close to us.

Liam had still not been seen, but we weren't giving up. A few more trips to Russia would be enough to gather enough information so that we could finally start feeling safe again. So far, the demon had just come up with a few substandard tips on how we could stop Liam; and it was either to give him A X (sure, that would be entertaining for Him) or to kiss Liam (which only worked when the girls were younger, because the boys only grew bigger when they were kissed after Him had revived them.).

That Saturday night I helped Irene with the dinner while George and Eugene were in their bassinette on the kitchen couch and looked at us. Had this been a perfectly normal evening, I would probably have been the happiest grandparent in the world - but now I just felt panic over the fact that two such small people were so close to us... innocent, and vulnerable. I sat down on the couch next to the bassinette and patted them on their bellies and cheeks. They both stared at me with their big, light blue eyes. They were exact copies and a mixture of Becca and Leo when they were young; only difference was that Becca and Leo had never been _this_ small. The girls were around five years old when they came to the world. I had never taken care of babies before, who looked almost exactly like my daughter… my daughter…

"Aren't they sleeping yet?" Asked Irene, who went back and forth in the kitchen while the meat hissed in the frying pan and the potatoes jumped around in the boiling water.

"No..." I said and got up. "You want me to chop something for the side salad?"

Irene glanced at me and then stopped in the middle of her pacing. She looked straight at my face with round, frightened eyes. Before I could ask what it was, she took two long steps and hugged me tightly. She pressed the side of her face against my chest and I hugged her back.

When she released me I asked her with a smile; "What was that for?"

She took a napkin from the napkin holder on the dining table and dragged it underneath my eye and showed it to me. A drop spread on the paper.

"It was the onion." I said quickly.

"I love you, John. We all do. We are a strong family and we _will_ survive this. George and Eugene will do just fine. They will graduate high school and attend the best colleges in the world, and they will grow up to be extraordinary and intelligent fine men. The greatest men of their time. And we will all be so very proud of them."

"I know… And I love you, too, Irene. " I still felt a little confused about the situation, but I knew that she just wanted to show that she cared about me.

Irene went back to the stove. "You can chop the onions now." She smiled at me and put the untouched onions on the cutting board.

I stood at the kitchen counter and began cutting the onions, tomatoes and cucumbers as I pondered the events of recent days. It had really been hectic, and I understood why Irene wanted us to start living normally again. The stress affected us all; Brooke in particular, it seemed - who still didn't open up to us. The only time I had seen a small spark of her old self was when she butted heads with Leo yesterday, but after Becca had stopped them Brooke flew away, returning as her empty self again.

I turned around to tell Irene an old joke, which could lighten up the mood a little, but quickly ended my thoughts. She stood in front of the stove with a slightly tormented facial expression and fondled her belly. I didn't even dare to imagine what my suspicions were, and quickly turned back to the cutting board without saying anything more.

**Boomer**  
So immediately after dinner I put on a warm jacket and we flew to Russia's forests, Betty and I. It only took a second before we stood outside the big white building that we wouldn't have seen for all the snow if it wasn't for the slightly darker trees around. Once inside, a couple of guards showed us the way to Him's cellblock, and it took almost ten minutes to get there. We walked through several corridors and took an elevator that went downwards sloooowly, deeper and deeper under the ground. Only the elevator ride took half the time to get there.

"How are you?" Betty asked as we stopped outside a large iron door five hundred feet below the surface.

"I'm fine." I answered.

"It's probably the first time you've seen him since... well…" she meant since I was a kid.

"Yeah." I said, drew a deep breath. "But it ain't no big deal. Come on."

We walked into a small square room with only one bed, a toilet and a chair in the middle of the room. He sat on the chair; the demon I hadn't met since I was a little boy. He was red, had a long, pointed nose and black hair, and graying beard on his chin. Had it not been for the dark red prison uniform he would have been the same devil I remembered.

"Boomer!" He said with his echoing voices when he saw me. "What a surprise!" Betty coughed. "Oh, of course I mean _Leo_." He winked at me.

"Yes, that's him. Here he is. So? Are you going to tell us something?" Betty said.

"Tell you what?" The demon asked politely, I still couldn't look away from him, and he didn't look away from me.

"How to stop Liam. You promised us information if I tagged along." I said.

The demon looked at me, almost awestruck, with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. "You're so grown up…" he whispered, shaking his head. "But that accent just does _not_ suit you. Why are you talking like that?"

"My brothers and I grew up in Texas State." I answered briefly. "Don't play the fool; you met Luke last year."

The demon sighed and shook his head again. "Where did things go wrong? I would never imagine you would desert your own brothers."

I snorted. "You were wrong."

"That's for sure." said the demon. "But I'm glad I got to see you, at least."

"Well?" I moaned.

"Alright… but I was actually under the impression that I would have time to get to know you a little better before we got serious. It's been a long time since I last saw you. How many years was it now? "

"I wish that Brooke was here..." Betty sighed, shaking her head with one hand on her forehead.

I realized that she needed someone who could get angry with the demon as soon as he tried to change the subject. "Eleven years. Tell me how to stop him." I replied, a little harder this time.

"So eager..." he murmured. "Can't you even spare your old man a-"

I created a loud cracking noise between my fist and the demon's nose, and a bang when a chair leg broke, causing one of the guards to peek in through the door.

"We'll be fine." Betty assured them behind me and the door closed again.

"You ain't my father." I mumbled, backing up again.

"What's up with you and your mercenaries?" Him asked Betty as he shakily got up. Blood slowly ran down his chin and he sat down on the bedside.

"I'm just the brain here." Betty said, a little happier, bouncing on the spot with a wide grin.

"Are you ready to let us know how to stop Liam now, or do you need more broken bones to convince you?" I asked.

"I thought you would help me, you and your brothers..." he mumbled behind his hand. "I actually didn't think you'd split this much; fight against each other... How does it feel to fight your brothers? To betray them?"

My whole body felt hot as anger was boiling inside me. I tried to put out the burning monster that constantly threatened to break out, but largely in vain since I couldn't really think clearly. "You're wrong again." I murmured through my teeth. "I don't fight _both_ my brothers."

Betty elbowed me and I cringed; was _this_ one of the things that I couldn't talk about with the demon?

"So Brick has gone over to your side too?" Him asked Betty with a total change of attitude. Now he sounded excited again. "Does he also have powers?"

"Are you going to give us information or not?" I asked.

"I want to meet Brick first." He leaned back on the bed, against the wall, with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Wipe that smug off of your face. You're not safe only because I'm here instead of Brooke."

"Oh, I'm really not. I'm very scared of you." he said seriously to me, but a faint smile played over his lips. "So when are you bringing... what was his new name again? It also started with L, right?"

"We will never bring him here." Betty said.

"Then I'm not going to give you anything useful about Butch either."

"Maybe we should talk to him about it?" I whispered to Betty. "Let him decide for himself?"

"Never. You know what condition he's in."

"Is he sick?" Him asked, and we both turned to the corner where the bed was.

"What do you want from him?" Betty asked, sounded threatening for the first time since we arrived. Actually, it was very rare to see her like this – she almost never lost her cool.

"I just want to talk to him, see how he has developed - as I see Boomer here in front of me right now."

"Leo." I corrected him.

"Excuse me, _Leo_." He smiled again. "Or is he too sick to visit me?"

"He's not sick." Betty said. "But he will never come here."

"You haven't asked."

"And we're not going to, either."

The demon's eyes changed, as if something glittered behind his gaze. "I understand... you're not going to ask him."

"That's right." Betty was quite clear on that.

"I see."

"What now?" I said, stepping forward; he was luring us into another dead-end discussion, but I wanted to know what it was.

"You are afraid that he will also join my side." he said simply, looking away from us.

"How can you be so confident about this?!" I said with a loud voice. "What makes you believe you are going to win? And how can you be so certain that _anyone_ would be so _stupid_ and join _you_ against the Powerpuff girls? You get what you want time and time again but you still refuse to give anything back! Don't you think we deserve something small, just a little piece of real information-"

"That's enough." Betty interrupted me. "You're right, Him; that _is_ why I don't want to bring him here."

"What?" Did Betty suddenly not trust Luke anymore?

She just continued with one hand on my chest, to silence me. "He's pretty unreliable; that one's for sure. And we're still keeping an eye on him, trying to get him to distinguish between right and wrong. He's also a slow learner… So unfortunately, you can't see him. Ever… I'm not going to let you turn him into a weapon against us since he is quite strong-willed. Just like me. But in our case we just call him _stubborn_."

"That's too bad..." the demon murmured and Betty clasped her fingers against my chest as I inhaled to say something. I decided to wait patiently until she gave me the signal to talk again; she was after all the brains, and she was up to something. "Had I not said anything about betrayal between brothers, you would have brought him some day, right? I mean… to let the others… rest. Taking turns."

"Probably we would have agreed." Betty said with a sigh. "And we can't risk it now, now that you know, and now when we know your plans." He looked rebelliously at Betty, chewing the inside of his cheek. "So... Because Leo followed me here today?"

"Fine!" the demon snapped. "Butch and I have something in common."

"What?" I asked quickly.

"I'm not gonna tell you that." He scoffed at me. "But now you found out something about him. Wasn't that the deal?"

"You-!"

"Thank you!" Betty interrupted me before I went to smack him again. "What do you want next time?"

"I want to see my son."

"Which one?" Betty asked quickly, but focused; as if she had rehearsed this and just wanted the conversation to be over with.

"The last one of them. Brick, of course. The one you still have to turn good." He rolled his eyes and almost unnoticeably shook his head. He was in no mood of her pretending that she didn't know what he was talking about.

Betty put her hand in front of her face and groaned, but from my point of view I saw a faint smile on her lips behind her hand. She looked up again, changed her face to look tired. "It can take months." she told the demon.

"Then I'll see you again in a few months, Beatrice Utonium. Thank you for the visit."

I waited until we had come out of the prison before I let the words stumble out of my mouth. "Yeah? What now?" I asked her. "Why did you want me to come with when I couldn't even talk to him? Or did you just want me there as your mercenary?"

"Him slipped." she said with big, excited eyes and smiled.

"What on earth did you hear that I didn't?" I was just as excited as her.

"Come on! Let's tell the others! "

**Blossom**  
We landed right outside the door, slammed it open and flew into the living room where Professor and Irene were sitting. "We've got information!" I said and they turned towards my voice since they hadn't noticed us coming in.

"What?" Asked Brooke, who came in through the back door with Becca behind her.

"Okay, let's start with the most important thing." I said, feeling a tingle with excitement in my stomach. Leo pulled Becca closer to him and Brooke sat in the armchair in front of me. "Liam is a hundred percent working for or with Him."

"What?!" Becca exclaimed.

"How did you find _that_ out?" Leo asked.

"Do you remember what I said earlier today, Brooke?" she shook her head. "The fact that someone must have helped him from the outside. Liam-" I stopped talking immediately and froze.

"Well done, Betty!" Professor got up and walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me, as if that was his plan all along. "Is he listening?" he breathed in my ear; no one else could hear it. I nodded barely noticeably. Professor let me go and straightened up. "Betty, could you go get Luke? The rest of us are heading to the lab. I have something I want to show you all."

We all did as Professor told us; the others went down to the lab and I flew to Gordon's old bedroom to get Luke.

"I heard you had good news?" He smiled.

"Shh... Hold me around my neck." I lifted Luke up and gently and slowly flew down the two flights of stairs with him. Once inside the lab, I put him in a hospital bed, which was in the now finished room that was meant as Luke's bedroom from the beginning but which had now become a kind of panic room with thick walls and a sturdy looking titanium door.

"What's going on?" He asked me as I put some pillows behind his back. "Why aren't you talking? Are you going to leave me here? Did I do something?" The terror in his eyes made me shudder.

"No." I said surprised as the silence pressed against my throbbing eardrums. "Just a small change of plans. We have to listen to what Professor says." I wanted to tell him that he had nothing to worry about, but I wasn't even sure about that myself. I turned reluctantly from him. "Is the door closed?" I asked the others in the lab.

"The door is closed." said Professor. "Search the room."

Brooke, Becca, Leo, and I did as he said even though we didn't know what we were looking for. We must have looked like nothing more than four different colors flying around the room to Professor, Irene, and Luke, but after a few seconds we all stopped.

"Is anyone going to explain to me what just happened?" Becca turned to Professor. "What were we looking for?"

"Hidden interception equipment." I answered. "Liam has been spying on us."

**Bubbles**  
"How do you know?" Leo asked, and Betty was just about to start talking when she was interrupted.

"You were there!" Brooke complained.

"I don't know what Betty—" Leo stopped as I grabbed his hand to remind him not to pick a fight with my sister. "Go on, Betty." He muttered, but glared at Brooke, who stuck out her tongue. They both started grinning. Perhaps they were finally starting to get along?

"I'll start over." Betty said. "Brooke, do you remember earlier today when I said I thought someone from the outside had helped him spy on us?"

"Yeah, but how do you know it's Liam?"

"Him basically told me and Leo today."

"When did he say that?" Leo asked.

"You know when he found out that Luke was on our side, and I said we weren't even going to ask Luke if he wanted to see the demon?" Leo nodded. "Him said, and I quote; '_You are afraid that he will also join my side_'... that he _also_... will join. Don't you get it? He said that Liam had already joined him, and that we were afraid that Luke would go over to his side as well."

"You're right!" Exclaimed Leo.

"If not..." Professor interrupted all our hope. "… he knew we were already afraid Liam was on his side... He probably assumed we thought so and said that only to make it more believable."

"Yes." Betty said triumphantly. "But he later confirmed my suspicions."

"Was that why you smiled behind your hand?" Leo said, shining.

"Do you remember what he said?" Betty asked him.

"Didn't he say something about wanting to meet the _last_ one of his sons?"

"Exactly!"

"That means Him has already met Liam." I said shocked.

"And that also means Liam is already working with Him!" laughed Betty. "Or for him; I'm not sure of which."

"Well done, Betty!" Said Professor admiringly, patting her shoulder. "You too, of course, Leo."

"We got a clue as well." Said Leo. "Because I let him see me. He said that Liam and him have something in common; whatever he meant by that."

"What do they have in common?" Irene asked.

"He didn't say that."

"That they both are demons, of course." muttered Brooke.

No one dared to say anything to her considering the way she treated the one having a different opinion than her. It wasn't like she was irrational or anything, but she was so sure on her thing that she really didn't want to listen to anybody else. So it was easier to just be silent.

"It's something we have to figure out." Professor sat down on the chair behind his desk, pulled out the bottom drawer, and took out a note book in which he began to take notes in.

"Aaand we lost him." Irene said with a motherly smile to her husband.

At the same time, Leo and I discovered that she was holding the twins in her arms, so we walked over to her to take one each of our sons.

"Are we at least progressing?" Brooke whispered from the spiral staircase that she for some reason felt she needed to guard.

"At least we know more now." said Professor from the desk, still scribbling in his book.

"What do we do now?" Asked Leo, holding Eugene. He looked intensely into Eugene's eyes, but I didn't know what he was thinking about.

"We will keep doing what we were doing. Irene, Charles and I will try to break the code and figure out what the clue we got mean, and you will keep guarding the houses. We will inform you immediately when we know what they have in common."

"But why did we search the room? Is he here?" I asked.

"It was just to make sure." said Professor. "You would have felt his presence and smell if he'd really been here. And you would surely have found the eavesdropping mechanisms if they existed. So to answer your question; no. He is not here."

I nodded, gave George to Irene and Leo gave her Eugene, then we flew up the stairs with Brooke right in front of us.

**Blossom**  
Luke groaned when I put him down in his bed upstairs. A pale green color arose in his face.

"It's not good for you to be moved around like this..." I mumbled a little guiltily. "But we _had_ to since we would all gather in the lab. We didn't want to leave you up here, alone and without protection."

"I'll be fine." he exhaled. "It had to be done, right? Considering I am now officially a snitch since Liam have been watching us."

"I'm sor-"

"Don't say it!" Luke interrupted me but started to smile. "I didn't want you to apologize again, remember?"

"Okay..." I sighed. We looked at each other for a short moment, and I knew I couldn't stay here for too long this time. "I have to go. I think that we need to reschedule our guarding periods. Everything is so messed up right now…"

"I understand. And try to sleep afterwards. Don't come here unless you have spare time."

My eyebrows dropped. "I always have time for you." my stomach began to tingle and my cheeks got warmer; I didn't mean for it to come out that way.

Luke was still smiling at me with glossy eyes. "Thanks, but if you are tired then you gotta sleep."

"I know." I smiled back and got up. "See you again in a few hours. Sleep well when you're going to bed later."

"Good night." But Luke wasn't done yet. "Betty?" He asked before I closed the door. "What did you mean down there; that you weren't going to ask me if I wanted to see him?"

"Yeah… that." I mumbled, walked into the bedroom and closed the door again. "It's not important. He just found out that you were with us, and wanted to meet you."

"Why did he want that?"

"He said something about wanting to see how you had _'evolved'_."

"From last Christmas?"

"He probably doesn't know that you got Antidote X a couple of weeks ago, and therefore can't turn invisible anymore. He must have understood that your powers grew stronger over time, even though you got Antidote X when you were younger."

"So why did he want to meet me?"

I sat down on the chair next to Luke's bed. "He probably thought you'd want to help him if he just got the chance to talk to you. And he thinks we are afraid that there is actually a risk that it could happen."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because I told him so." Luke looked at me as if he couldn't believe what he'd heard. "It's better to let him believe that, right? But just so you know; no one here thinks you would join him."

"I've done it before…" Luke said miserably. "How can you trust me?"

"See! That's _exactly_ what they want!" I got up and kicked the chair over. It felt completely irrational to get _this_ mad about his comment. Something within me seemed to try to burst out; something I had been trying to hold back and repress for a very long time.

"What's wrong?" Luke whispered. My sudden outburst surprised him.

"I can't stand you being angry with me again!" I murmured with my hands in front of my face as I sat down on the floor. "It would kill me! I just- I can't handle-"

"Betty! Calm down! I ain't mad at you…" his fingers touched my shoulder, the only spot on my body he reached from the bed. "I'm sorry for what I said ... it's just..."

"I know..." I moved closer and leaned against the bedside, but remained on the floor. "Please, believe me when I say that we trust you. Especially me, Professor, Irene and Becca."

"That's the only thing that matters." he said quickly. "I believe you. I ain't gonna whine like that again."

"Thank you… and I will try not to have another mental breakdown."

We both laughed quietly. Luke sighed. "What happens now? Would you get something in return if I visited him?"

The sudden change of subject made me look up from my hands. I turned to look at Luke's eyes, which were not as far from mine as I'd believed they were. "I think so, but..." I turned my entire body toward him. "... you can't see him. You can't even walk."

"But when I _can_ walk... can I come with you then?"

"Luke, I-"

"If I can help you in _any_ way; I'll do it! Just tell me what I need to do. I swear, Betty, I'll lose my mind if I can't help you in any way. _Anything_." His red eyes stared wildly and pleading into mine, his upper lip trembled and he breathed jerkily. He'd been lying in his bed, watching TV every day, for too long already… of course he was bored out of his mind and wanted to do something.

"When you start walking again I can take you there." I answered mechanically. That was the last thing I wanted… There were just too many reasons not to put Luke in the same room as the most evil creature I knew; but none of them was distrust towards Luke. I was going to do everything to protect him. How could I get him out of this one?

"Thanks. Now you can go out and reschedule." He smiled gently.

**Buttercup**  
The whole Sunday was uneventful and on Monday it was time for school again. _SCHOOL_! Of all that is holy! It was the most _unimportant_ thing I could ever imagine right now, and yet we had to go to keep some kind of _facade_ up; so that people wouldn't worry! Professor was right that people would panic if they found out everything about Him and his little demon. If they win; it's not just me and my family they will win over, but also over the world. No Powerpuff girls - no justice. Only chaos wherever you turn. Ugh... I don't even want to think about what would happen without us. The thought is making me sick.

Betty forced me to shower in the morning before we flew off to school (my car got a vacation). Apparently I looked like a hobo… Leo could stay home today, so he could help Becca guard, and Betty and I were going to find out what his schedule looked like so we could arrange some lessons around so he got a few days a week off.

When we arrived at the school I moaned loudly and walked in; now it was time to pretend that I was just tired of school. Betty's curly friend greeted her by the lockers and Robin and Tilly found me inside the biology classroom.

"Where have you been?" Tilly asked as soon as she spotted me, and sat down on the vacant chair next to mine. "Why didn't you meet us up on the football field?"

Robin sat down at the table in front of us and turned her chair towards us. "We've been trying to call you for two weeks now!"

"Sorry. Professor took us on a conference trip in New York to punish us."

"Why?" Robin wondered.

"New York? What a punishment." Tilly sighed.

"He found out that Betty and I had been drinking – again; and he didn't want to leave us unattended at home. And as a punishment we had to go to _all_ of the lectures with him." I said monotonously. "It sucked." I added, trying to sound like myself a little bit.

Talking like this; like a tired and misunderstood teenager with my friends felt so surreal. It felt like I was watching a movie on repeat; I wasn't the one talking – I only knew what the main character was going to say next and only mouthed the lines with her.

"You are eighteen!" Complained Tilly. "Your dad can't tell you what to and what not to do!"

"We still live under his roof."

"So no party this weekend?" Robin asked. "I will be home alone again."

"I don't think so. I have a curfew for the rest of the school year."

"Wow... talk about hardcore parenting." Tilly combed through her long, blonde hair. "But you're not the only one who's having a hard time right now; my date stood me up last week."

"Yeah?" I mumbled without putting any energy on the conversation.

"Yeah; so you can tell your boyfriend to tell his brother that he missed out on the greatest opportunity in his life! No one stands _me_ up!"

"They actually moved back to Texas recently." Robin said. "And were you _really_ going to go out with him?"

"I was going to… let him… do stuff." Tilly shrugged and nodded; she _almost_ looked sincere. "He's not bad looking. And he has this fantastic smile…" she sighed and looked up in the ceiling, dreaming herself away. I still couldn't figure out who she was talking about. "But he was shorter than me… and a total nobody. Frick that guy, right? Luke is such a loser."

"Luke?" I asked; had completely forgotten the whole thing in the cafeteria. Was it really just almost two weeks ago? It felt like I had lived several lifetimes already since that day.

"Oh, was that his name?" Tilly asked theatrically even though she herself had just said it, flinging her hair. Had she always been this self-centered?

"I'll..." I cleared my throat. "I'll tell him that."

"What's the matter with you?" Complained Tilly. "I know it's the first day for you, and Monday and all; but can you pay a little more attention to what I'm saying? Participate in the conversation?"

"Sorry, I- I have a lot going on right now. I'm gonna quit cheerleading."

"_What_?! You can't do that! The squad has never been as good as it is now!" Tilly exclaimed. "Is it because Liam moved? You can't abandon everything because of him! A _dude_!"

"Are you all right, B?" Robin wondered; she was normal at least.

"There are a few things I need to figure out." I repeated, tried to smile. "Oh, here comes the teacher, sit down."

Tilly cast an insulted look towards me; as if I had said something really nasty to her; and then turned forward.

**Blossom**  
Professor called principal Williams in advance, and I had a strictly private meeting with her about mine, Brookes and Leo's schedules. I made it so that I could be free on Mondays; Leo on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Brooke had Wednesdays and Fridays off. That way there would always be two of us at home while the other two was in school to make it look as if everything was normal. I had deliberately made it so that _I_ was the one who had the most days in school, since neither Leo nor Brooke seemed very happy to have to go back after all that's going on. Of course, I didn't want that either; the stress was absurd; but since I was the only one with a flawless eidetic memory, schoolwork wouldn't take too much effort for me to keep up with. Only Professor knew that I made this sacrifice, but he would worry a lot if I told him that I voluntarily took on all this weight even though I weren't all fine with it.

I'm talking about my memory… it seemed to weaken because of the stress… for some reason I started to forget about things more, I had to think longer than usual whenever I did the more advanced calculations in math class, and I was more annoyed with everyone and had a hard time keeping my cool. I wasn't myself anymore… but it was all due to the stress and sleep deprivation.

…

A whole week went by without anything happening to us, even though it didn't change the way we all were behaving. We were still nervous, but it was a bit like we were finally starting to settle a little. I kept thinking that this was just the calm before the storm, and I didn't doubt for a second that the others hadn't thought the exact same thing; but we still felt a little better.

Brooke and Leo had grown so sick and tired of school and complained to Professor every single day. "I'll fix it." he promised us. "After Christmas everything will change, I swear."

"How are you doing?" I asked him when the other two had left the lab.

"I have a plan, but it may take a while before I can implement it." I continued to look at him, questioning. "I can't say anything right now. We're still in brainstorming-stage, though one thing sounds pretty irresistible to try."

"Okay… And the clue we got from Him? Anything new there?"

"There's a lot they can have in common - everything from Him's powers to their favorite dog breed - we haven't come to anything yet."

…

Every day after school I sat in Luke's bedroom while doing Leo's and Brooke's homework; as I said, it wasn't that big of an effort for me (even though I felt rather unfocused nowadays). I helped Luke as best I could to get him to move his toes, and one day that actually happened. I sat on the chair as usual one Sunday afternoon and wiggled his toe with my fingers. Every time he was _thinking_ that he moved his toe I wiggled it, and eventually (if we were lucky) he was going to wiggle it without my help.

The strangest thought suddenly struck me; his toe was kind of cute, even though it had hair on... the knuckle? Do toes have knuckles? But his nails were clean and his feet were so… manly… geez, I have never cared about anyone's toes before! And touching Luke's feet started to feel more and more intimate the more I did.

"Now." He mumbled, and I wiggled his toe. "Now... now... now... Nothing happens." He moaned and threw himself back in the pillows. He could move his upper body now without it being painful.

"Come on, try some more." I encouraged him.

"I'm telling you it ain't possible!" He murmured through clenched teeth. "Okay, now, now, now, n-" we stared at each other with open mouths. "Did you feel that?"

"I think I did..."

"Did you really feel that?!" he shouted excitedly.

"What's going on?" Becca asked from the other side of the window.

I got up, leaned over Luke's legs and opened the window. "Luke moved his toe! He will walk again!"

"Are you serious?!" she cried, laughing. "I knew it! Congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Luke's eyes became glossy, and he continued to smile so wide that his dimples showed; even those on the right side were there though they seemed a little weak. "I can't believe it."

"You'll be okay." I moved forward and hugged him.

He gently placed his hands on my back, and the soft touch sent shivers down my spine. I felt a scent that made my whole stomach tingle; a familiar scent that I hadn't really noticed before. It was Luke; it was him that smelled so good. I closed my eyes and melted into the hug with banging heart, my cheek pressed against his jaw…

I released him immediately when someone knocked on the door. "Come in." I said quickly, with a squeaky voice and burning cheeks.

Professor opened the door with an excited expression on his face. "What happened?"

"Luke moved one of his toes!" Said Becca, who was still by the window (oops, I had totally forgotten about her…). Leo was curiously floating behind her in the air.

"I knew it would happen soon. Can you show me?"

"I can try." Luke couldn't stop smiling, but seemed a little bothered by his audience. He slowly wiggled his right big toe. He, Becca and I all gasped.

"Terrific. And it's only been three weeks since… the accident." Professor put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Congratulations, with a little rehabilitation you will start walking again."

"And I'm going to help you." I said quickly. "You can lean on me every time we practice. I'll be here for as long as you need me; even if it takes years; I will help you walk again."

"Thanks. I don't know what to say, I'm just so… so…"

"Happy?" I asked.

"Euphoric." Luke looked at me with a warm smile.

"May I?" Professor wondered, showing with his hand that he wanted to touch Luke's back, and Luke nodded. "Do you feel this pressure here?" He asked while gently pressing his fingertips around Luke's lower back.

"No..." Luke sighed. "But that doesn't mean anything, right?"

"I'm not sure. You have only _just_ begun the rehabilitation; but you moved one toe today, that means that you will soon get back the movement in the lower back as well. But it's as Betty said; it could take years before you even can take one small step. Do you understand that?"

Luke nodded. He looked serious, but smiled. "I _will_ walk again. Soon." He was so stubborn! I really loved that about him.

"You have a strong fighting spirit. We have to celebrate your progress tonight. I hope you're all up for pizza." Said Professor.

"I'm so happy for you, Luke. I believe in you. Betty, can I talk to you for a second?" Becca said from the outside.

Professor stayed to discuss the nearest future with Luke, and I flew out the window. Becca landed on the ground by the edge of the garden leading to the forest, and I landed in front of her. The first snow had begun to fall during the night and rested on the ground like a thin blanket over the grass, but the snow hadn't reached underneath the trees in the forest.

"I'm so glad that he will walk again! It's a miracle."

"Yes, it's perfect and life is wonderful." muttered Becca with lowered eyebrows as she looked like she tried to analyze me.

"What's wrong?"

"I know I have nothing to do with it, but..." she started squirming a little where she stood. "… how long ago was it you saw Dainton? Or just talked to him on the phone?"

I reacted by dropping my eyebrows. "Uh... I talked to him... Oh..."

"It was a long time ago, wasn't it?"

"Why did you pull me to the side to ask that?"

"Because... Because I... I'm worried about ..." She took a deep breath and sighed. "For how long have you been in love with Luke?" she whispered with a mixture of anguish and accusation in her voice.

Something cold was poured over me the second she asked that question. A lump began to form in my stomach and it felt like fire was climbing up my throat. I coughed, tried to regain my voice. "What kind of question is that?"

"Don't do anything you'll regret." she said seriously. "Promise me that. I only want to help you. And I know it's hard to maintain a relationship right now… perhaps you're just being temporarily blinded by easy access?"

I just stared at her, shocked, with open mouth and banging heart. I felt the blush wearing off my face, but was replaced by something even hotter. "Wait a minute, are you- are you seriously saying that I'm trying to get with Luke because he's _disabled_?"

"I'm sorry, that's really not what I meant-"

"So what are you trying to say, Becca?" I was fuming.

"I just don't want you to make a mistake." She sighed. "You and Luke, you're… you're becoming closer and closer to each other every day and at the same time not seeing Dainton… I know that you kissed Luke in the woods before." She started whispering. "And I know that you and Dainton have already talked about it, it's just… I _see_, Betty."

My lip twitched and I looked away from her. Who told Becca that I kissed Luke? Only Luke and Dainton knew, and I know that _I_ didn't tell her. "Did Dainton tell you about that?"

Her eyes sparkled from tears; she clearly didn't want to get into a fight right now, but knew that she had said too much and it was too late to take it back. She shook her head slowly with open mouth. "We can talk about details another day. I'm so sorry I brought this up. I just wanted-"

"_You_ _just_ _wanted_!" I snapped at her. "Why should I care about what _you_ want?"

"I'm telling you this in case you didn't know how much you had already fallen for him, and how much he likes you back. You're in a position right now where you can accidentally break three hearts at the same time… just be careful. That's what _I_ want; for all of you but especially for you."

"Well, thanks." I spat, crossed my arms. Deep inside I knew she were right, but I hated this. I hated it so much. I couldn't control my feelings for Luke and apparently they were out there, strutting about for everyone to see them and it was embarrassing.

She began to walk toward the house again. "It's your turn to sleep." she said, before flying up to the roof of the main house to keep watch.


	7. Chapter 6 - An o n white Christmas

**An ordinary, normal white Christmas**

**Bubbles**  
_Wednesday, December 15th_  
It took me a few seconds before I understood where I was. With some help from Leo's hands, I realized that I was in my own bed in Forestville.

"Are you awake?" he whispered in the dark while carefully stroking my arms as I sat up in bed.

It had been that dream again; exactly the same one I dreamed several weeks ago. The one where I sank down into the mud on that field, and I didn't wake up until Liam shot his laser in my face. "What does it mean?" I groaned, leaned forward and put my face on the cool sheets over the blanket.

"What?"

"The dream. I've had the same exact dream twice now."

Leo hesitated a moment before answering. "You were actually talking again."

"What did I say this time?"

"Same thing as last time: '_he killed Leo_'." he put his hands on my shoulders, wanting me to lie down beside him again, and pulled me closer to him. "Nobody will kill me because of a dream, honey. I'll make sure not to die."

"Thanks." I hugged him and kissed him on his chin. He glanced at me from the side with a little smile, and I sighed. "I will never grow tired of you, you get that?"

Leo chuckled. "Goodness gracious, I was starting to get worried."

"No, you weren't…" I slapped him loosely on his chest. "I love you, Leo. I always have, and I always will."

"Was that a proposal?"

"You know that we were destined to end up together the second we met for the first time." I bit my lip. "But if you need an official proposal..?"

He turned to his side, facing me and started caressing my cheek. "I want you to go down on one knee."

I giggled. "I will… someday."

"But you'll have to stand in line; because I'm gonna propose to you first."

"When?" I asked, giggled again.

To my big surprise he actually got out of bed, and I sat up with my mouth wide opened. I shrieked quietly out of excitement as he got down on one knee next to the bed, in front of me, with my hand in his hands. Leo looked into my eyes with a wide, mischievous smile. "Rebecca Bubbles Utonium…"

"… jerk…" I mumbled, still smiling.

"… I have loved you since the day I met you and I ain't planning on having a future without you in it. You are the twinkle in my eye…"

"The twins?"

"They are also my _twin-_kles." He said in a whispering voice. "But this is about you. Don't interrupt me, Honey, please?" he pretended to sound upset.

"Okay, sorry. Proceed."

"Thank you. What I was saying… and on more serious terms; you are the love of my life, Becca. I've never wanted anyone or anything as much as I want you."

"Leo…" I said with one hand over my banging heart. The change from joking around to being serious made it beat double.

"This was starting out as a play but I really want you to know this; I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. Someday, in the future; do you wanna marry me?"

"Of course I want to, silly." I felt the tears in my eyes, but tried not to cry since I didn't want to bring too much attention to us; Brooke and Betty were guarding the houses and could easily hear Leo and me from our bedroom. Leo helped me up on my feet and I stood on my toes to kiss him. "I love you so much." I whispered. "Of course I will marry you. When this is all over."

"When this is all over." He agreed with a nod.

**Professor**  
Betty and Leo came home from school one Friday afternoon when I realized for the first time that it was actually Christmas in only just over a week.

"Finally… a holiday." Leo sighed as he entered the door at four o'clock.

"What holiday?" I asked in astonishment from the kitchen; wasn't it Thanksgiving recently?

"It's Christmas Eve in eight days, John." said Irene. "I was going to start decorating two weeks ago but didn't know if... it was appropriate."

Leo and Betty went out to the back to take over for Becca and Brooke. I looked up at Irene who was sitting in front of me at the kitchen table, solving crosswords. We had taken a free afternoon (free from the lab); she deserved it. "Wanna go up the attic and bring down the Christmas decorations? Come on, we'll do it right away!"

Irene looked up from her crossword and smiled. I knew it would make her happy.

…

After an hour, Becca and Brooke also helped us decorate the entire house; while I hung up Christmas lights in the windows, Irene hung red curtains in all the rooms; Brooke decorated the outdoors with all kinds of fairy lights, and Becca decorated the fir trees closest to the garden and on the yard in front of the house.

Later that evening my whole family stood outside on the driveway and looked up at the house. It was pitch black all around us in the forest, so we would see a good result.

"Ready?" I asked from the front door and looked at the others.

Betty held up her cellphone so she could film the house for Luke who couldn't leave the bed yet. I turned on the switch and the driveway was lit up immediately. As I stood next to my family, I could see the whole house; the fairy lights twisted around the gutters underneath the roof; a plastic Santa Clause with two reindeers stood on the top of the roof, also blinking, and some lights flashed from red to green. The two large fir trees on either side of the stone path up to the front door flashed and glittered in gold and white.

"Perfect." said Irene, putting an arm around my back.

I put my arm over her shoulders, pulled her in and kissed her head. "Thank you." I whispered to her.

"For what?"

"For wanting us to feel more normal."

I followed the others to check what the house looked like from the inside; it was like we had stepped into a fairy tale. Because of our previous lack of normality the past weeks, we had really given ourselves free reins; above almost every threshold hung a mistletoe among a crown of fir needle, cones, and rowan berries; tinsel hung from the ceiling; angels and tiny Santas stood on almost every surface; red curtains in front of every window; Irene's old Christmas tree in plastic (Becca refused to let us bring in a live tree) stood in a corner of the living room and glittered, gleamed and blinked.

"It's so nice." said Irene with warmth in her voice. "Just like this; I want every Christmas Eve."

"Then you'll get it." I said, who still had her under my arm.

George and Eugene; who was in their parents' arms; began to give off small chirping sounds and we all watched them.

"You like this, huh?" Becca cooed and stood close to Leo so the twins could be closer to each other. They both curiously looked up on the glittering tinsel above them. "This is your first Christmas Eve and we will have so much fun together."

…

The day after; Saturday, December eighteenth; I got in my car with Becca and Leo to go to town for some Christmas shopping. Had we not needed a babysitter, Irene would have come along too; but she would go in with Brooke and Betty on Sunday instead, to shop for the things I would most certainly forget to shop today…

**Boomer**  
It felt strange that we would suddenly lower our guard to celebrate Christmas Eve, and I really didn't understand why no one took anything seriously anymore (me included). But I still went with Professor to Townsville to buy Christmas presents...

Professor walked in front of me and Becca. We were constantly checking our surroundings in the mall. We held each other's hands to keep pretending like nothing; if the paparazzi saw us they would think we were _just_ Christmas shopping like normal people (and have something new to write about since I had been hidden from them so far). Gaslighting an entire population was something we were good at by this point.

"I won't be able to buy _your_ gifts today; Irene will do that tomorrow." Professor mumbled as he looked into the bookstore we had just passed.

"I don't want anything." I repeated for the third time since we entered.

"It's gonna be fine." Professor said, looking into a men's clothing store. "Do you think Brooke would like a new jacket?"

"Maybe-" Becca mumbled but was interrupted.

"Hippie?" someone shouted excitedly in front of us in the crowd.

I immediately recognized that word from last summer. It wasn't that I related to a hippie, but I remembered that I had been called a hippie a lot a few months ago. When a raspy, familiar voice called out that word, I looked the way I had heard it. There walked four guys who all but one looked at me; one with long black hair, one with pink, one with long blond hair and one with short but stylish, reddish brown.

"Hippie!" greeted the guy with the raspy voice, he with pink hair; it was Josh from the band _Joshie and The Beans_. I took his hand with a wide smile.

The fourth guy, the one with auburn hair, had seen my girlfriend. "Becca?" he said, walking towards her.

"Sam! Hi!" she said surprised.

Becca released my hand and walked forward, hugging Andy's older brother Sam, whom had once given me a ride from Citiesville. Now, as I saw him up close for the first time; it was as if I had been hiding under a rock all my life - was he a god damn photo model?

"What up, Leo." said the guy with blond hair, which made me look away from the model.

"James with G!" I took Games' hand. "Andy!"

Andrew, with his black hair, ignored the previous handshakes and gave me a semi hug with one arm and loosely dunk my chest with his other hand. "What _is_ up, Leo?" he asked when he patted me on the back, and let go.

"Everything's fine; Christmas shopping with my girlfriend and her father. How's the band doing?"

"We're just getting bigger and bigger." Games smiled.

Andy noticed Becca ten feet ahead of me, and walked over to her to say hi.

"What's up with the haircut?" Josh asked, roughing my hair. "Now we can't call you _hippie_ anymore!"

I laughed awkwardly and as effortlessly as I could, and turned to Becca who just introduced Andrew to Professor. "_This is Sam's little brother Andrew. He's the one who played in that band I talked about last summer_."

"Where did you go during the festival, by the way?" Games caught my attention.

"I ... met my friend who lives in Forestville and-"

"Say no more!" said Josh. "He got you wasted and you fell asleep in the woods?"

"Behind the port-a-potties, actually." I joked, and the others laughed as if they actually knew me. If they had really known me, they would have found it very strange that I had been so blatantly drunk that I had fallen asleep somewhere else than in my own bed.

I tried to eavesdrop on Becca and Professor again. Professor greeted Andrew and turned to Sam. "_It was nice to meet you again_." he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "_You can keep talking for a bit. I'll go and sit right there_." he said to Becca, pointing to a bench a few feet behind us.

"_It was all my pleasure, Professor Utonium, we won't be keeping Becca from you for too long_." said Sam with a polite celebrity smile that showed all his unnaturally straight, commercial white teeth. It didn't seem like Becca could tear her eyes from him. When Professor left them, I managed to hear their conversation while Andrew, Josh and Games discussed something else loudly in front of me. "_So what have you been up to?_" Sam just asked her.

"_I've been home a lot and taken care of the twins._" Becca said, and I noticed that she was blushing.

"_So they're out now? That's so exciting!_" he asked playfully and I felt the urge to punch him - _do you think she looks pregnant?_

"_They are five weeks old._" Becca responded to his inappropriately stupid question.

"_What are their names?_"

"_George and Eugene - after my grandfather and uncle. What have you been up to? Have you found a job?_"

"_I've actually gotten a job as a music teacher substitute on a junior high in Citiesville._"

"_Wow, I'm so glad to hear that. Congratulations!_"

I approached them just as Becca patted Sam's arm. "Hey, I don't think that I've officially introduced myself. Leo Berger, Becca's boyfriend." I said to Sam, holding out my hand. He was just a few inches shorter than me and I think I forgot to smile.

"Sam." he took my hand and looked a little unsurely into my eyes. My rude introduction must've caught him off guard. "Wait a minute... Leo? Aren't you the guy we picked up from- ohhh…" He looked down, then at his little brother, and started over. "You are the father to the children." I had not mistaken the judgmental tone on his voice.

"Correct." I said, dropping his hand I had happened to hold a little too hard. I wasn't used to how strong I was nowadays. "And you're the guy who took Becca to a festival last summer."

"Correct." said Sam challengingly.

"We worked together at the camp. Camp Waspbury in Forestville, you know? " said Becca, who looked a little worried; she must have felt the tense atmosphere between me and this Sam guy.

I remembered that she mentioned something about a camp but didn't think any further on the details. "Do you always bring pregnant girls to events like that when you're not shooting up in some alley?"

"Leo!" Becca warned me. "That was extremely rude."

"Had I _known_ that she was carrying babies I would have taken her to a more suitable place; like the park or the movies." said Sam. "But growing up without their father would only make them stronger, right?"

"Sam!" Becca wailed, looking at him as if she didn't believe her ears.

"Watch it, buddy." I growled. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

"You're not scaring anyone." Sam said with his stupid Irish dialect and laughed spitefully. "You're delusional if you believe that you've won only because you're back."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The children need to grow up with their biological father."

"Are you suggesting that Becca's with me only for the sake of the children?"

"Had you not knocked her up I would have had my chance with her."

"Please, don't make me laugh." I mocked him. "She would never be with someone like you."

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Sam politely looked at me curiously with a wry smile; as a politician who knew he had won a debate.

"Sam, stop!" whispered Becca. "How could you?"

Sam threw a frightened look at Becca, as if he had just woken from a trance.

"Tell me what?" I murmured.

"There, there; let's pull our fighting gloves _off_, shall we?" Andrew stood in front of me, between me and Sam. "Okay, big guy?"

"Save it for another time. Not among people." Josh said, patting my shoulder. "But it was nice to see you again. Here, give me a call." he gave me some kind of business card with his name and phone number on. "And if you ever want to rent a band, call me." He backed away with his thumb to his ear and pinky finger to his mouth; as if to hold a pretend phone.

"See you, Leo." said Andrew.

"Have a good one, Hippie!" said Games.

"I'm sorry." Sam whispered sincerely to Becca, and the four of them walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

I glanced back at the bench where Professor was reading a newspaper; he hadn't seen any of what had happened (or at least didn't perceive the mood); before turning back to Becca. "What didn't you tell me?" I asked her angrily.

"What's wrong with you!" she threw herself out and hit me on my arm. "Why are you so jealous?"

"How can all this be _my_ fault?" I asked, stunned. "You heard what he said! He tried to provoke me!"

"And you provoked him!"

"Just tell me what he was talking about and we can let go of everything." but I wasn't prepared to drop anything. "Why did he think he would have had a chance with you if you hadn't been pregnant with my children?"

"I don't know…"

"Did something happen on the festival?" Becca continued to look rebellious into my eyes, they began to tear up. "On the summer camp?" I asked quietly; began to realize that I might be right about my suspicions - something that, upon further reflection, I didn't actually _want_ to know.

Why _was_ she even on that festival? There was nothing in the whole world that could make her go to such an event, if not-... it could only be- but it's... of course she only went for _Sam_. There was no other reason than that she was actually on a... date.

She looked down on the floor and kicked with her foot angrily, but still said nothing.

"Becca… did he kiss you? Or…"or, worse…

"Yes." she muttered.

"Yes?"

"Yes, we kissed each other. But that's all, nothing more. "

"So that night... a few weeks ago... when I asked you about-"

"It was just a kiss - and _nothing_ _more_!" said Becca stubbornly.

I felt it as if my whole being inflated, felt how my knees began to fold under me. If Sam had told me this himself while I had been that worked up I was less than a minute ago I probably wouldn't had been able to control myself. Becca had kissed another guy and I could only blame myself. Did she have feelings for him? It must have been a hell of a kiss if he had managed to get her to go with him to that drug festival! What if she had decided not to take me back, and let Sam be the father of George and Eugene? What would her life have looked like now? Would I run into her somewhere; full of piercings, dyed hair and a tattoo in the neck, with the twins bawling, and dragging behind her in leashes?

It was _I_ who had pushed her straight into a celebrity smiling drug festival photo model's arms… _me_. And I had already painted the whole awful, alternative world for our children if Becca had been more stubborn than she already is. It would've been my fault…

"Leo..." she sighed. "I didn't know you were ever coming back... And I explained to him right after that I couldn't because I still had feelings-"

"Stop. Just-" I said, pulling her into a soft embrace. I needed to put my jealousy to the side; I left the love of my life behind me when she needed me most; of course she was entitled to do whatever she wanted, to fall in love with whoever she wanted… Sam would probably also have been a pretty good fa-… he would've probably been good to them. "I understand, okay? Sorry for getting so angry. I was just ... surprised."

"Good." she hugged me tight and looked up at me. "Come on; let's get something nice for George and Eugene."

Everything worked out surprisingly fast; I had neither the time nor the energy left to argue with her anymore... our time together was far too precious.

**Buttercup**  
On a Sunday, five days before Christmas Eve, Betty and I accompanied Irene to town for Christmas shopping. Professor had opened our accounts for us completely. Had it been an ordinary day I would have been overjoyed (I was literally a millionaire now), but I couldn't care less. The reason he opened our accounts was because we should feel independent; not because we would go and buy exactly what we wanted; but he probably wanted to cheer us up as well.

"It will be your Christmas gifts from me and Irene." he said at dinner the night before. "You're free now."

But I knew why he did it... I don't think he saw any hope for us and wanted our last days to be as good as possible-

Okay, I actually don't believe that either; but why did he suddenly want us to have a lot of money we still can't use to the fullest? We can't buy ourselves a house, we can't go on a trip; we can't have fun with our own money, so what gives?

On Sunday night, Grandma's plane landed in Seattle. Betty had followed her from South Carolina and drove her home in my new car; which I had hardly given any attention to at all in recent weeks.

"Hey, y'all!" cried Grandma as she and Betty entered the house.

"Hi, Grandma!" Becca said happily, flew up to her and hugged her.

"It's so nice to see you again, Arabella." said Irene, and also gave Granny a hug.

"Oh, I am '_mom'_ to you, sweetheart."

Charles and Daniella, who had dinner with us every night, came out from the kitchen to say hi to Grandma. And I stood inside the living room watching the backyard which was now empty of people. I had my eyes directed towards the hallway but I was intensely listening to every sound behind me.

"Oh, Leo." grunted Grandma. "Always such a handsome boy!"

"Thanks." Leo laughed nervously during the embrace and Becca giggled as Grandma kissed him on the cheek.

"You can take Zac's room, Arabe- eh, _mom_." said Irene kindly, cringing a little trying to get used to the new name. "It's the first room up the stairs."

"Where is Zac?" Grandma asked.

"Him and his brother Gordon live with their father in Townsville at the moment. It's much closer to the school from there. They're gonna be here Christmas Eve, but one of the girls will give them a ride back to the city when they get tired."

"How nice! I remember your boys on your wedding, Irene. They were very polite young men. And so sweet." Irene smiled widely. "Where is Buttercup?" everyone looked around until they found me in the living room.

"Here." I said. "I'll wait until there is some more space in the hallway."

"Oh, shush!" Grandma said, stretching her arms out to me.

I stiffly walked through the living room (I threw a quick glance at Leo as I passed him and he discreetly scooted closer to the backdoor to take my place), to Grandma who hugged me tight. She let go and took a strand from my hair.

"It was only a month ago I saw you last; but your hair seems to only grow faster whenever we're apart."

"Yeah, heh, it's growing."

"So where's Liam?"

I froze, and everyone suddenly became silent. Grandma didn't know that… my ex… now threatened us all, and that he worked for a wicked demon. Professor had said that it was better that she learned as little as possible about the matter.

"He-" Betty began.

"-moved." I cut in. "He moved back to Texas."

"Yes, to my sister." said Daniella. "He would get a scholarship to a college that focused on basketball if he studied the final semester at a high school in San Antonio."

"Oh, that's too bad." said Grandma. Daniella, Irene, Betty and Becca went into the kitchen and left us alone. Professor, Charles and Leo stayed - Leo because he needed to watch the backdoor while I guarded the stairs and the front door. "I'm sorry to hear that, sweetheart." said Grandma and stroke my cheek.

"Nah, I can go see him all the time." I said with a wry smile and a wrinkle of my nose. "You know, since I can fly…"

"That is true, sweetie. And what about that red-haired boy?" Grandma asked Charles, who was just about to follow the girls to the kitchen. "Was his name Luke? I remember he was as sweet and polite as the rest of the boys. Just a little bit quiet."

"That's right, we haven't mentioned him, Mom." said Professor. "Luke was in an accident just after we visited you last month. He's upstairs right now, in Gordon's room."

"An accident? What happened?"

"He broke his back..." Charles said in a low voice, glancing up at the ceiling. "Car accident. Alone. He was the only one getting hurt."

"But he can move his toes, so he'll start walking again eventually." Betty jumped in from the kitchen when Grandma gasped in horror. She poked her head out through the door. "He was in the hospital for a little over a week, but he was good enough to leave and he is making progress. We also have a nurse coming here every other day to help and check on him."

"He had to take Gordon's bedroom while we were moving, so he didn't have to feel stressed from the construction work at home." said Charles. "We're renovating the house just across the lake."

"Here, let me help you with that, Mom, and I'll show you to Zac's room." Professor took Grandma's luggage from the floor and threw an eye to me. I understood what he meant and picked up the largest suitcase.

**Blossom**  
_Friday, December 24th_  
I woke up early in the morning so that I had time to check off some things on my to do list before telling Becca and Leo to go to bed so they could sleep for a while before the Christmas breakfast in two hours. We didn't want Grandma to find out that we were guarding around the clock, so we wanted everyone to be gathered during breakfast.

After a quick shower before I told them to sleep, however, I stood outside Luke's bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" he said from inside and I stepped in.

"Merry Christmas." I said, closing the door behind me. "Did I wake you?"

"Merry Christmas." he whispered back, he sounded sleepy. "No, I woke up when you showered."

"The pipes are pretty loud in this house." I agreed and sat down on the arm chair next to his bed. "I just wanted to tell you that Mrs. Hess is on her way; she'll be here in an hour or so." I talked about the nurse Charles hired to take care of Luke while he had been in a coma, and also helped him take showers and dress him now that he was awake.

Luke groaned. "Alright… Thanks for telling me."

"Wanna practice a little, or are you too tired?"

"No, it's okay." he pulled the blanket off his feet (once again I blushed from thinking he had cute feet) and wiggled his toes a little. "I actually practiced before falling asleep yesterday."

"That's great! You should." I tried to pretend that the sight of his bare feet didn't make me nervous.

"Look at this, then." with a small twitch of the muscles Luke's foot jerked to the side, if only half an inch.

I got up on my feet, wide-eyed, and walked up to it. "It's amazing, Luke! It's going so fast!"

"Ahh, when you're a gift of nature; nothing is actually too hard." he said, suddenly cocky, with his head tilted and with a smug face.

"Yes, indeed." I laughed. He was adorable when he was all proud of himself… I must stop letting myself have these feelings right now.

"What time is it, by the way?"

"Half past six... Hey, I have something for you, an early Christmas present."

"What?" he asked curiously and got up on his elbows, he pulled up the lower part of his body so that he could sit up, and I shyly looked away as the blanket slid down from his chest.

I got up to walk out the door. "Wait here." I said and flew down the stairs.

In the garage I found the wheelchair I had picked up from the hospital the night before and flew up with it upstairs again.

"Whoa, a vehicle!" Luke said enthusiastically. He had just barely put on a long-sleeved white t-shirt that was a little too big for him; being in bed for so many weeks without exercising had its consequences.

"I thought you could sit downstairs and eat today instead of sitting in bed all Christmas eve. And I can just roll you out on the balcony in case you need some fresh air instead of me carrying you around-"

Luke looked down at his hands, cringing a little.

"What?" I asked him.

"I'm actually fine…" he whispered, grimacing again; I understood that it was a topic he would rather not talk about.

"How many times should I tell you that you are not in the way? We _want_ to have you around."

"Really?"

"Yes! That's why I picked up the wheelchair - you can control it yourself if you want, if you don't like me helping."

"With this hand?" he asked, showing the arm with the cast.

"I can push it a little discreetly with my foot, so it looks like you're doing it yourself." I joked. He laughed nervously, as if he were thinking of something embarrassing. "I know you don't like when I carry you around, I've seen it... That's why I thought the wheelchair might make you feel a little more independent."

"I'm not very good at hiding it, huh?" he asked me with a wry smile. "Of course, I appreciate it…"

I shook my head and smiled. "Come on, it's not Christmas Eve if you're not there. Please?"

"Alright." he sighed. "It sucks that I can't do anything by myself."

"I know, and I'm sorry for that, but it's not many weeks left until you can make it on your own. Hopefully."

"Yeah... but it's good that it happened, right?"

"That what happened?" I wondered.

"This." said Luke, lifting his arm, pointing to his lacerated face, and looking over his half-limb body. "That I was this badly injured. I got what I deserved."

"Don't say that."

"You said it yourself!"

"I never said it was a good thing that you were injured!" I burst out with my eyebrows so high that it felt like they disappeared under my bangs. "Why on earth would you believe that?"

"When we lay there in the woods after the explosion, you told me it was a good thing that all this happened because otherwise I hadn't—" Luke stopped in the middle of the sentence and just stared straight ahead.

"What?" I asked, but remembered what he meant the second after.

He remembered what we had talked about in the forest that day; I had said that it was a good thing that everything had happened, because otherwise he wouldn't had said he had feelings for me, and then in turn _I_ hadn't realized what I felt for him. He'd told me that everything went black before that talk, so how can he remember what I said all of a sudden?

"Never mind. I- I thought I remembered something but- I'm wrong. Okay?" he muttered and pouted with his mouth, just looking straight ahead.

"How... How much do you remember from the woods?"

Luke lifted his eyebrows as if he had suddenly been struck with amnesia. "Oh, almost nothing." he said slowly. "Becca gave me A X, I fell to the ground and then I woke up down in the lab."

"You were just telling me about a very specific thing I said."

"Just tiny fragments, but I remember exactly those words; that you thought it was _a good thing that everything happened_... but I don't remember why you thought so. I assumed it was because I got what I deserved. "

"You are wrong; that's not how it went." I said. I really didn't want to talk about this right now; it wasn't Luke's and my time… yet… or ever… I can't let him know that I have feelings for him now that there is a chance he doesn't even remember me telling him that I'm in love with him. Maybe I can get out of this smoothly, without breaking Luke's and Dainton's hearts… only mine. "I mean… you and I… we're closer than ever now right? I never wanted you to get hurt Luke, I mean…" oh, fuck; the tears started falling without warning.

"Hey, Betty? Are you crying? I'm sorry I brought it up." He reached out for me to console me.

"No, it's not your fault, Luke!" I tried wiping away my tears, tried hiding my sobs, but to no avail. I just couldn't stop.

"I shouldn't have said anything…" Luke whispered. "I know how sensitive you are nowadays, and I promised not to whine anymore… I don't understand why I keep making you sad."

I looked up at him, still wiping my flood of tears with the sleeves on my shirt. "It's not that either… I was just reminded of the woods… and you lying there… and me…" I sobbed. "I never told you this, Luke, and I promised I wouldn't because I can't… stop crying… whenever I think about it…" I took a deep trembling breath. "You died out there, Luke; several times…" his eyes widened. "And you died a few times arriving to the house, and we kept reviving you over and over and over… and I kept _screaming_… Professor even kicked me out of the house with Leo… I thought you were going to die… I thought I would never see you again… and it would be so unfair to you, because you would die a _villain_… you wouldn't have had the chance to… redeem yourself and- and it would be my fault…"

"I didn't know that I actually died…" he whispered, looked scared. "Betty, I am _so_ sorry for ever thinking that you wanted me to get hurt… I know you care about me, and I'm grateful for having you in my life. But you _have_ to stop blaming yourself; you have to let this go… please… for me?"

I shook my head. "I can't… It keeps coming back; the guilt. And it's killing me. It's tearing me apart."

Luke's eyebrows dropped, and he reached for me again, now wanting me to get closer so that he could embrace me. I leaned forward and let him wrap his arms around me, and he gave me a tight hug. "You are my best friend, Betty. I have never met anyone as awesome as you. Without you I would still be in a car somewhere, hiding from people and smoke weed, maybe drop out of school and become a petty criminal. You are truly an amazing human being; you're the reason _I_ wanted to change to a better person." He mumbled.

I laughed a little. "Thank you, Luke." I let go of him to look at him. "You are my best friend too. And you've also had a big impact on my life."

"Oh, yeah?" he smiled, becoming his normal teasing self.

"We can talk detail some other day." I wiped my face for the last time, took a deep breath and remembered the thing I wanted to do today before telling Leo and Becca to go to bed. "I'm just gonna fly away for a moment, but I'll be back in less than twenty minutes. Wait here?"

"Of course." he answered with a frown. "I'll wait right here."

"Good. See you soon."

**Brick**  
The conversation with Betty had been a little confusing. It was like we were finally going to talk about how we felt about each other, but I ruined everything. As usual. The fact remained that I was still not entirely sure if she even knew anything - but at the same time, there were always small details that proved that she did.

I was thinking of one specific evening a few days ago when she was sitting in the room with me watching a movie on the TV. She had taken a break from her homework and I took a break from wiggling my toes. Since the TV didn't have a designated space in the room it just stood on top of a stool in front of Gordon's full-figure mirror, so the whole time I looked at the TV from the bed I could see Betty's face in the corner of the eye through the mirror. Every now and then I dared to look at her, and every time I did, she just looked back at me; gave me a shy smile and didn't look away until I did. Every time I happened to make eye contact with her it was like an electric shock was traveling from the roots of my hair in the middle of my head all the way down to my stomach. I would have said my toes if only I could feel them...

Maybe it was just me over-analyzing? Did she feel the same?

I didn't dare thinking about the other thing she said; that several times that night, before getting to the lab, I had actually… No it's too scary.

After almost exactly twenty minutes, Betty knocked on my door again and walked in.

"Where did you go?" I asked her and turned off the television which showed a completely uninteresting news report. I had started watching it because they had mentioned my old town Fort Davis, Texas, and a man who had been murdered, but since it was outside of the reserve there the news wouldn't be too exciting. I've heard it all before.

"I flew to the store." she said, showing a dark purplish red shopping bag from a clothing store she was holding in her hand. _Joemel Lee_ was put on it in white scribbled letters; was it an expensive brand? In the other hand she held a cardboard box. A shoe box?

"At seven in the morning? On Christmas Eve?" I asked.

"The stores were open in Orlando, it's ten o'clock there."

"Florida?" why was I even surprised? She flew faster than the speed of light.

"Yes?" she laughed. "Here." she handed me the bag.

"For me?"

"It's just your Christmas clothing." she tried to sound as if things like this were normal but I noticed that she blushed a little.

"You didn't have to buy clothes for me." I sighed without looking into the shopping bag. I got annoyed in only a couple of seconds; what am I to her - a doll?

"Can't you just try them on? For me?"

I groaned and pulled up a plain dark red sweater; but the material didn't feel ordinary; it felt expensive. "It's too small..." I mumbled as I looked at the size on the tag.

"Just try it. There's a shirt in there that you should wear underneath."

I moaned a second time but tried my hardest not to say anything mean; I actually just wanted to make her happy. "Turn around, at least?"

"Yeah, of course! Sorry." she said quickly, turning to the door.

I took off the t-shirt I was wearing and took out the white shirt with my left hand. I gently stuck my right arm with the cast through one of the sleeves, and eventually had the unbuttoned shirt on my body. It took me a good minute to fiddle with the buttons, since I only had one healthy hand to button it with. "I'm done... But it's a little... cramped." I mumbled.

"Can I look?" Betty asked enthusiastically, but didn't wait for me to answer. She approached me. "Yes, I knew it would fit! But you did the buttons wrong; that's why it feels '_crowded'_."

"Oh…" my cheeks felt warm as I started to fiddle with the buttons again.

"Let me do it." said Betty.

For a few awkward seconds, she unbuttoned all the buttons I had struggled with earlier. We were both silent and her face was so close to mine that I was almost sure she could feel the heat from my cheeks. Her cool fingers were feather-light against my chest and every time they touched my bare skin I shuddered. Although I hardly dared to look at her, I discovered that she had pretty nails… clean, not too long. This must be the first time I notice anyone's nails of anything you can notice!

"There." she said after what felt like a lifetime, digging out the dark red shirt from the bag again. "Do you need help with this, too?"

I was still a little overwhelmed from when she buttoned my shirt, but I just wanted to be close to her… "I think so..." I muttered, but smiled gently at her.

"Okay, arms up." she gently pulled the sweater over my arms and head and pulled it down, straightened it and smoothed out the collar on the shirt. She backed up. "Perfect."

I didn't dare ask why two pieces of two sizes too small shirts fit me, only smiled.

I once again saw her digging in the bag and pulled out a pair of very thin, dark gray socks. "After you put these on, I want to see if the shoes fit."

I moaned. "Why did you buy all this stuff? And _shoes_? I can't even walk. Who is this Joel Lee?"

"I wanted to give you something for Christmas, and _Joemel_ Lee happens to be my favorite designer. The shoes are Fred Percy; I've seen you with that brand before. They were on sale so they weren't that expensive; but I knew you'd like them."

"Not _that_ expensive?!" I moaned again and hit my forehead. I had owned _one_ pair of Fred Percy shoes my entire life, and I had been working my ass off for them while living in Texas – those shoes cost more money than what I got for my car I sold a long time ago. Her indifferent tone of her voice annoyed me; but I told myself that she just meant well. Heck, I heard the Utoniums discuss money the other day; the girls were apparently millionaires now, so money wasn't a problem for Betty. I glanced at the shopping bag by the foot end of my bed, and it still didn't look empty. "Don't tell me there's a pair of pants in there."

But Betty only grinned back with burning cheeks.

"Oh, no… no, no, no…"

**Buttercup**  
The highlight of the day was listening to Luke being tortured from inside the house. He growled and brawled while the nurse Mrs. Hess helped him shower and get dressed this morning. He got angry over small things like when she "_tugged too hard on that_" and "_looked him in the eye too long_". But the nurse wasn't afraid of him, she had been here every other day since he woke up to wash and dress him, so she was used to him and laughed mostly when he raised his voice to her.

Today they lasted extra-long because Luke for once would have to wear jeans instead of jogging pants. He didn't appreciate it, it seemed. Not one bit.

"It's not funny." Betty muttered from the roof of the big house as I giggled through the entire nurse's visit.

"_Alright! Thank you, that's enough, we're good!_" he just roared from Gordon's bedroom and I could no longer hold back my laughter.

**Bubbles**  
Leo was not happy that we would all be gathered inside the house during the evening, even though I repeatedly told him that we had to for Grandma.

"Why can't we just tell her? Then we can avoid this charade…" he said as he put on an ivory sweater that I had picked out for him while he was showering.

"We don't want her to worry about us. You know that she is old."

"Bull! She's not that old!" he muttered and pulled on a pair of beige chinos. "What does she have – like, at least fifteen years left before she even turns eighty?"

"It doesn't matter; Professor wants her to be unknowing of the situation - at least over Christmas." I stood in front of the mirror above the dresser and made a braid in my hair. "He doesn't want her to find out anything until it's truly dangerous for us - remember we've been safe for a month and a half now."

"Don't say that." said Leo rather menacingly, it made me throw an angry look at him. "You know we ain't safe. He's been spying on us in one way or another, and we don't know how."

"It was just a theory, we have no real evidence."

Leo sighed, closed his eyes and shook his head. "Just… let's not fight more today, okay? Time to celebrate Christmas Eve." he murmured, leaving the room.

Irene had actually made the evening feel like a real Christmas Eve, and it felt pretty normal. We were a big group of people sitting at the table that she had pulled out to make room for everyone. It was me, Leo, our sons, Betty, Brooke, Professor, and Grandma; Irene, Zac, and Gordon; and Charles, Daniella, and even Luke. We were fourteen people, sharing an entire twenty pound turkey (well, twelve if you don't count Leo and me who don't eat animals) and talking, laughing and celebrating Christmas together. The only one who couldn't come this year was Eugene; our uncle.

It was probably the first time we had celebrated Christmas with three different families that had now been merged into one… but all the time it felt like someone was missing, at least from the Berger side of the family. Someone we would probably meet in the near future; and we wouldn't be happy to see him.

**Brick**  
I _just_ reached up to the sink from the wheelchair so I could wash my hands (well hand, since I didn't want to get the cast wet) - going to the bathroom without help was no problem anymore, I managed this better than I thought. Who knew I only needed a wheelchair?

On the way back to the kitchen from the downstairs bathroom, I bumped into a pair of legs. "Oh sorry." I said quickly as it had been my fault. I was the wheels, so I was the one who had to be attentive.

The legs belonged to Betty and she just turned around with a smile. "No, forgive me! I was standing in the way." she stepped aside and let me roll towards the doorway to the kitchen.

I stopped the wheelchair next to her and listened for a moment to what everyone was talking and laughing about. The adults of the lot; Professor, Irene, Charles, Daniella and Arabella had gotten permission from the rest of us to have a few stronger drinks after dinner. They could relax this one evening. It was Christmas after all.

"You see now?" she whispered so that only I could hear her.

"What?" I wondered and rolled my eyes without looking at her - here it comes, I thought.

"Nobody's bothered that you're here, you fit in perfectly. You _are_ a part of this family."

"Yeah, yeah..." I said back, scoffing. "You won. And thanks." I looked up at her.

"For what?"

"Because you forced me downstairs. I've actually had a pretty good evening tonight."

"No problems." she just said. "By the way, you look really nice. I mean… the clothes look nice… on you."

I quietly chuckled. "Thanks."

Without being able to control myself, I turned my gaze to the mistletoe above her head. The thing was that I, throughout our entire conversation, already knew it was there, but I hadn't wanted to look directly at it because I knew I couldn't do it in a discreet way. And everyone knows what it's like when you do everything in your power to avoid doing something... It added to my stress when Betty looked up to see what I was looking at, and looked as embarrassed as I felt when she looked back at me again.

"So... well, uh..." I said, slowly rolling forward.

"Yeah, right..." Betty said as if she knew exactly what we were talking about, cleared her throat and walked in front of me to the dinner table.

How could it get so awkward this quickly?

…

Betty was pretty quiet the rest of the evening after the mistletoe incident, and for periods she just stared straight in front of her with a serious look on her face and a wrinkle between her eyebrows.

"Hey, what's up?" I whispered. I sat next to her and rocked into her with my shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

With a jerk, she came back to reality and stared at me. "I have to go, but I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Where are you going?"

"To Dainton." Betty got up and walked out of the kitchen without anyone calling her back.

I just looked at the back of her ginger head with a mixture of rejection and jealousy. I should have realized that she was going to stay with him... Of course she wants to be with him on Christmas Eve.

"Cheers, then, for a wonderful Christmas Eve with wonderful people." said Charles, raising his glass with brandy. Everyone else except for me raised their glasses and toasted with him.

"Where did Betty go?" asked Gordon, who was sitting on my other side.

"To Dainton." I mumbled.

"Here." he took the bottle of brandy from the middle of the table and poured it up to the width of my empty glass. "It's Christmas Eve." he shrugged when I looked questioning at him.

I lifted the glass and glanced back at Gordon and saw that Becca was staring at him too, but unlike my surprised facial expression, she looked rather shocked and angry. I drank from the glass in three large clunks, took the bottle of white wine in front of me and filled another glass. No one except Gordon and Becca noticed me; Professor, Irene, Charles, Daniella and Arabella sat at the other end of the large table, laughing and talking loudly while serving themselves glass after glass of alcohol.

**Blossom**  
I know I was evil for doing it on this very day, but I really didn't endure the guilt anymore. I should have done this a long time ago; I had beaten the dead horse for too long already... After everyone had eaten the food and continued the evening eating dessert and drinking coffee and other _harder_ drinks, I decided to fly to Townsville, to Dainton's dad's house. I knew he would be there over Christmas.

"Betty! Hi, it was a long time ago!" Hank greeted me as he opened the door. "Come in, and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." I said with a forced smile.

"Dainton! Betty is here!" he shouted into the house and I walked in with an aching stomach.

"Betty!" Dainton's eleven-year-old little sister Veronica came running to the hall and flung herself around my waist.

"Hi, Veronica..." I mumbled, feeling my eyes start to burn now. "Merry Christmas."

"I drew something for you!"

"You can show her the drawing later." Mr Hannigan laughed and disappeared with her into the dining room which sounded crowded with people, while Dainton showed up.

Dainton; my boyfriend from two years back got into the hall from the living room. He was wearing a red pullover with a white shirt underneath (wonder where I've seen that combination before…) and a pair of brown manchester jeans. His dark blond hair was in a nice hairstyle on his head, and his blue eyes widened under his Calvin Kleing glasses as he saw me.

"Betty!" he exclaimed and walked towards me. He looked scared as he embraced me. "Has something happened?" he asked.

"No of course not." I mumbled.

"Why are you here?" it hurt me that I had spent so little time with my own boyfriend lately that he even felt a need to ask why I was visiting him.

"It's Christmas and..." I felt the burn getting worse under my eyelids.

"Thank you." he said, holding me tighter. "Do you want to talk in my room?"

I couldn't answer but nodded, and he led me to his downstairs bedroom with a firm grip of my hand. We sat down on his couch, and I felt observed; Dainton couldn't tear his eyes from me. I didn't dare look directly at him; the risk of getting a nostalgic shock was too great. What if I couldn't go through with this, and wanted to stay? So I kept looking down at my feet.

"What is it, Betty? You look... you're beautiful, of course, but you look a little... tired."

"Okay, we need to talk." I said quickly before the tears began to flow.

Dainton was silent for a moment before sighing. "You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" he whispered. "But I understand - you have a lot going on right now."

I couldn't fathom how he had already figured it out, but all I could do was nod. "It's unfair to you..."

"I hate to say it, though; I agree. And I understand, okay?"

I looked up and saw his glossy eyes. Of course he was so understanding! He always has been, but I didn't come over here to lie to him. "It's not just that." I admitted and the tears started to flow faster.

"It's not?"

I told him everything - _everything_. About my feelings for Luke and how I couldn't stay with Dainton no matter how much I loved him; he needed to find someone who could give him a hundred percent instead of fifty. While I was telling him everything, I wished I could split in half, straight through the middle, so that I could give one half of me to him and the other to Luke... but I couldn't do that, I _had_ to choose one of them.

I hate love! I hate feelings! What are they good for if you have to be this split? Why is there love if you can have it for two guys at the same time but only get to give it to one of them? Why didn't love just stop when it had found a good guy? Why did I have to fall in love with _two_? Or rather; why didn't I love the first guy enough that I can just forget the second one? My feelings for Luke were stronger; I couldn't deny that... I just wish I didn't have to hurt Dainton…

When I was done with my confession, I looked up for the first time since we sat down. Dainton looked down on his lap with something tormented in his eyes. "I understand..." he mumbled.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered, couldn't bear to see him this tormented. But I kept staring at him, wanting to remember the pain I had created. This was something I would take with me everywhere I went, as a reminder of how much I had hurt Dainton.

"You love both of us." he said grumpily, and his voice cracked a little.

"I wish I didn't."

"But now you do, right?"

"Yes…"

"And you pick him?"

"I don't want to hurt you by also loving someone else. You deserve someone better than me."

"But I love _you_…"

"I love you too... but I can't... I just can't pretend I don't have feelings for anyone else... I don't want to look at you, and sometimes wish you were him... You don't deserve that."

"So... after this; you're just gonna go home and throw yourself in his arms?"

"Dainton, I-"

"Or you've already done that, haven't you? Did you and Luke laugh behind my back? _I can't believe Dainton's so stupid and suspects nothing!_"

"Stop it, it's not like that at all." I whispered exhausted, but I let him yell at me.

"We're done here." he said suddenly, got up and began to wander back and forth between the bed and the door.

I slowly got up with my head lowered. "Okay."

"So I have-!" murmured Dainton, who was not done at all. "I've been so worried about you! I have hardly slept and have not been able to focus in school. I go to college now and my grades are worse than what they've ever been!"

"I'm sorry." I deserved this.

"And all this time you haven't even been in an overwhelming danger at all; but you've been sleeping with Luke behind my back!"

"We have _not_-!" I tried to protest but was interrupted.

"I never thought you would do something like this, Betty! _Never_! What have I done to deserve this?"

"That's what I'm trying to say; you _don't_ deserve any of it!"

"And you just strut into my home - on Christmas Eve - and pretend to be a fucking _hero_ who breaks up with me _before_ you do something with the next guy! For _fuck's_ sake!" this was the first time ever I heard Dainton use the F word.

"I would never be unfaithful to you-"

"But you already _have_! Don't you get that?"

"I can't control my feelings!"

"No, of course; none of this is _your_ fault! It's _me_ that happens to be the wrong person!"

"It's probably time for me to go..." I mumbled, walking toward the door.

"So you're serious? After two years; you're just gonna leave me? Just like that?"

I turned to Dainton after his sudden sad tone. He no longer looked pissed. Tears began to run down his cheeks the same way they had run down my face and grimaced with every muscle in his face.

"Please, stay..." he whispered.

"I'm sorry." I squeaked. "Please forgive me. I don't deserve you... remember that. You deserve something better. You have to keep being mad at me. I must go." I opened the door and disappeared from Dainton's house faster than I thought possible.

What was the saying again? You don't know what you have until you lose it? I had never taken Dainton for granted and now it really felt like I had made a big mistake. But, I thought to myself; it's actually _his _feelings I have to have in mind right now. I can't give in to my selfishness and keep him when I love Luke too. Dainton doesn't deserve to ever come second; he should sit on a throne, be lifted on a pedestal by his partner - and I was not her.

When I arrived at the log house in the woods, I stopped outside the door for a while to calm myself down and try to recover; I didn't want Luke to see me cry over Dainton, didn't really want anyone to see it. My family laughed and talked loudly from inside the house, it was almost like I hadn't even flown out of here.

Someone's voice especially caught my interest. It wasn't the words he said or the topic he had chosen (football of all there was to talk about on Christmas Eve) but it was the _way_ he talked; sounding happy and relaxed as if it were natural for him to be.

When I entered the kitchen I saw Luke talking to Leo, Becca, and Gordon on a corner at the table, the others had formed another group, and no one noticed that I had arrived, let alone that I had been away. Luke were at the end of a dramatic recap of one of his amazing rescues when he was in the football team at school, when I sat down on the chair next to him. Becca looked at me with wide eyes, as if she was waiting for me to tell her what I've been up to. I just nodded with sad eyes, hoping that she would understand; and she actually nodded back as if to say she was sorry. She knew what I had done.

Leo and Gordon seemed to be completely engulfed in the story Luke was telling them, and smiled all the time with impressed looks on their faces. This wasn't like Luke at all; why was he acting weird?

"Hi." I said quietly, poking him. "How are you?"

And just as I had suspected, Luke turned his red eyes towards me with a wide smile; so wide that his whole face shone up. "I'm good. How are you?" he rocked a little as if he couldn't sit still. "How are... Dainton doing? " he asked, grimacing, but still smiled. His breath reeked of alcohol.

"How's Dainton?" Becca whispered from the other side of the table so only I could hear her.

"I'll tell you everything later." I tried waving it away. "Did you drink alcohol, Luke?"

"Yes." he replied.

"A lot." Leo laughed quietly and Becca elbowed him. "What? He needed to relax a little. He's fine."

"Do you drink too?" I asked the other teens.

"Nope, it's only Luke. And Gordon. And they." Brooke sighed at my other side and nodded to Professor, Irene, Charles, Daniella and Grandma.

"Do they know?"

"That Luke and Gordon are drinking? Probably not." said Zac, who was sitting next to Becca. "But I guess they don't mind, he is of age."

Of age? He was far from being twenty one years old! He was only turning nineteen in a few months. But who am I to judge?

I turned to Luke again, who had resumed football talk with Leo and Gordon. "Hey... exactly how much have you been drinking?"

"Why?"

"Don't you think it's enough for tonight?" I glanced at his glass that was half full of what looked like water; but I was pretty sure it wasn't water.

"Do _you_?" he suddenly became serious and stopped whispering, and just looked straight into my eyes.

"What is it? Did something happen while I was away?"

"I don't know, did it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I wailed and didn't understand what he was doing. "Why are you so angry?"

"I ain't angry." said Luke, straightening his facial muscles. He picked up the glass, took a large sip of liquor, and grimaced before putting it down on the table with a shudder. "It's been a long time since I was this happy."

"Okay... that's great..." I mumbled.

"So how was Dainton?"

"He was doing just fine."

"Good."

"Good." I said defiantly, we glared at each other.

Thirty minutes later Luke had gotten so drunk that I took him upstairs without him even noticing. He no longer seemed angry with me, but talked nonstop. "... and then Brooke told me that Tilly was pissed at me because I didn't call her. Great news, Tilly; I almost died and now I'm paralyzed!" Luke laughed as I put him down on the bed. "Is it true that Brooke has a star tattoo underneath her boob? Or wait… was it on her ass? Gordon told me that Zac had seen it, but I don't know how in the world he could possibly know that-"

"I really don't know anything about a tattoo, Luke."

"And check this out; it's a Christmas miracle!" he continued to laugh as he wiggled his toes on both feet.

"Can you move the left one too, now?" I asked, stunned.

"I practiced with Mrs. Hessessess… Hessess…"

"The nurse? Luke, are you trying to say Mrs. Hess?

"Yes." He pointed his finger at me. "We practiced earlier today and I was going to tell you at dinner."

"But you got drunk before you could tell me." I said a little accusingly.

"Yeah..." he sighed and closed his eyes as I pulled his blanket on top of him. "... and the mistletoe distracted me, and then you flew off to your boyfriend."

I couldn't cope with my feelings anymore today; I felt completely drained; so I just replied; "You shouldn't drink that much."

"I have to try to get over you somehow, you know? And what's better than alcohol in situations like this?"

"Get over me?"

"Yeah? You've chosen to stay with Dainton, and booze became my only friend."

"We can talk about this when you're sober." I muttered and walked toward the door.

"No need, I understand. Okay? Who the hell am I, right? A short, ugly, wheelchair-bound guy with a scar across his face." he laughed. "I'm Henry Potter! Just… in a wheelchair instead of on a broom. A broom would have been cooler; so of course I don't have that…"

"Stop." I whispered with my back still turned to him.

"I don't have the looks, or the money, to be interesting enough. How could I ever think I had a chance with you? I'm only here because you feel sorry for me... but don't get me wrong; I am obviously grateful; where else would I go? Who would take care of me? Maybe I should have stayed with Him; then you wouldn't have to worry about taking care me at least... and I wouldn't fall harder and harder for you every fucking day that passes."

I finally understood why he had behaved like a jackass this evening. "Luke, if I tell you something; do you promise me to stop feeling sorry for yourself?" I grinded my teeth.

"I can't promise you anything." he muttered, suddenly angry again.

I turned around and walked up to him, put my hand on his cheek and looked him straight in the eye. "There is nothing wrong with you, and I flew to Dainton's today only to break up him."

It looked like he sobered up as he understood the true meaning of what I had just told him. "You… you did?"

"Yes, so please respect my feelings now; I just broke one of the world's sweetest person's heart; don't force me to do it again."

Luke looked guiltily into my eyes and nodded gently. I patted him on the cheek, turned around again and walked out of his bedroom.


	8. Chapter 7 - And so it begins

**And so it begins**

**Professor**  
_January 7, 2011_  
We had a nice Christmas Eve and new Year's, and afterwards it was like something clicked inside of us, as if we were finally _living_ again for the first time in two months. The start of the new year made everything in the house seem so much easier each passing day. Betty could leave her guard post more often to help Luke walk again (at the moment he could move both his feet and his left knee, and had even taken a whole step with a little support from Betty); Becca and Leo spent more time with their sons (who had learned to grasp things by themselves and keep their heads steady); Irene was her usual happy self and facilitated everything for the rest of us - only she was no longer pretending; and Brooke ... Brooke was still not entirely herself, but socialized a little more with the rest of us, ate a little better and slept a little longer.

Today Becca wanted us all to gather in the kitchen on a breakfast break to celebrate the twins' two-month day. They had grown so fast you wouldn't know that they were the same children we left the hospital with had it not been for their unique eye colors - the same as their mother's. She sat us all down around the dining table in the kitchen and served us freshly baked cinnamon buns. My mother had gone back to South Carolina, and she still didn't know anything about the war between us and Liam.

**Brick**  
"I'm sorry I don't have a gift for them; I didn't know you celebrated two months." I said jokingly to Leo sitting on the chair next to my wheelchair.

I had become so used to the wheelchair after a couple of weeks that I basically didn't need any help from Betty anymore; except for when I had to get up and down the stairs. Every morning I dressed myself (though it took like five minutes before I had all my clothes on), I spent the whole days downstairs, helping Irene with dinner and stuff; and later in the evenings I did pushups; and when I was finished with workout I rolled into the bathroom upstairs to take a shower (after someone had helped me upstairs again of course). Now Mrs. Hess didn't have to come here anymore, and I was grateful for that.

"You're fine." replied Leo. "The main thing is that you're here." he teased – as if I wasn't as stuck here as he was.

"There's one thing you can do." said Becca, who was sitting next to Leo.

"Anything." I smiled, but kicked myself mentally because that sentence could trigger negative memories for all three of us.

"You can hold the kids. He hasn't done that yet, right?" she asked Leo. One of them I had actually held... but I didn't want to be reminded about that ever again.

"You're right." replied Leo. "Ready?" he reached the kid out to me and placed him in my lap without waiting for an answer. The little boy looked up at my horrified face and giggled.

"George too?" Becca asked, putting the other kid in my lap just as swimmingly as Leo had done with the first.

I froze with the children leaning against each arm (I had no cast on the right arm anymore, now it was completely healed) with an almost frightened facial expression. I didn't know if I was holding them right and had no idea how to correct them without dropping any of them. They both seemed stable enough to kind of sit on their own, but they still needed a little support on their backs and I just couldn't figure out if I did it right or not.

"Why do you look like that?" Betty teased me. She was sitting next to me; on my right, while Leo was on my left, and Becca next to Leo.

"I've never held a baby before." I mumbled, staring at their happy little faces. "And now I'm holding two."

"You look overwhelmed." giggled Irene from the other side of the table. "But you're doing right; they have enough support behind them."

"I can take one if you want to." said Betty.

"Okay, take this one." I said, wiggling the kid closest to her. She took him with a quiet chuckle as I gently corrected the child I had left.

"So, Uncle Luke, how does it feel?" Becca asked me.

All I wanted to say to her was how happy I was that she had let me into her life, her family, how she had completely forgiven everything I had done to them. It was like before all this happened; when I spent almost the entire summer break at their house, and she had forgiven everything I had done before _that_. Like when I was being mean to her behind her back when she and Leo started dating, when I pushed her into those lockers in school, and poked her again later that night in front of Leo… I felt so ashamed of myself; who was that person? And she had pulled Leo over on her side too; now even my brother forgave me - he even trusted me enough to throw his two-month old baby onto my lap without thinking twice about it. It finally felt like I was fitting in.

Betty sat next to me and looked down at the kid she was holding, the sun shone through the kitchen window and made small spots of light dance on her bright ginger hair. Her pink eyes sparkled and her white teeth gleamed in her calm smile.

"It feels nice." I replied, looking down at the child in my arms again. "Uncle, huh?"

**Buttercup**  
I sat on the kitchen couch behind the table with a cup of tea in my hand and listened only half-heartedly to what the others were talking about. The landline rang, and since no one was getting up from their seats, I leaned aside to get up; the phone was on the countertop closest to the doorway; but something else caught my attention. Today's newspaper was on the couch next to me on top of the usual pile of mail, and the headline immediately triggered all of my senses to react defensively.

**MOJO JOJO ESCAPES TOWNSVILLE'S PRISON**

"What is this?" I asked while staring at Professor as I shoved the newspaper into his face. Everyone stopped talking, looked at me and read the headline.

Professor cleared his throat before answering: "That is today's newspaper."

"I'll take it." said Irene, got up on her feet and walked towards the phone that I had already forgotten about.

"Why didn't you say something? Why hasn't Mayor called?" I asked angrily.

"Because the police are taking care of it - Mayor thought we had enough to-"

"It only takes a few seconds for us to bring him back to jail! No one would notice that we were gone!"

"The police have it under control. He's a very old chimpanzee and he has no plan." said Professor sternly back; the others just silently observed our dispute. "And what if it's a trap? What if-"

"They called from the prison in Russia." Irene interrupted us and put the phone back in its dock again. "He wants '_the pink girl_' and '_the blue guy_'."

**Blossom  
**We didn't stay long enough to listen to their argument before Leo and I flew away; but it sounded like Professor was winning. Of course she couldn't go out there and look for Mojo by herself.

We always let Professor win; that was the right thing to do since he is our father; but I'm actually on Brooke's side on this one. Why has no one told us that Mojo had escaped? And then again; I was thinking about what Professor was saying before getting interrupted; could Liam use Mojo as bate to get to us?

My line of thoughts ended when we reached the prison in the deepest forest in Russia where we landed in the snow. We entered as usual and followed two guards through the corridors and down underground with the big, sturdy elevator that could fit over a hundred people or a whole bus (it wouldn't surprise me if it also withstood the weight of a tank). The guards let us in and we stepped into the little square chamber where the demon sat on the bedside with the newspaper in his lap. I was glad they had moved him from that cave with the window; it felt safer this way. It was still freezing cold in here; like stepping into one of those big freezers in restaurants; with several barred air conditioners on the walls.

"See; it wasn't that hard, was it? Though it wasn't our deal." he said when the guards had closed the door.

I sighed. "_We_ didn't release him; we have no idea how he escaped."

"Have you imprisoned him again?"

"No."

"Why not?" Him asked with narrowed eyes.

"Because he's not a threat to us." said Leo with a shrug. "We'll look for him right after we're finished with this visit."

"The reason you wanted to talk to us?" I asked.

"You could have lied and said that this was your idea, then I could have given you some more clues."

"Sorry to let you down." said Leo expressionlessly.

Him snorted. "You're pretty over this, huh?"

"Especially when we never get anywhere." Leo agreed.

"I gave you something really juicy last time you were here! Have you found out what Butch and I have in common yet?"

"That you are both soulless?"

"Oh, that was a blow under the belt." he shuddered and looked fatherly at Leo. "Forgive me for being curious. So nothing?"

"Nope, nothing new." Leo shrugged again.

I still didn't say anything; I was trying to analyze the demon while he had his attention toward Leo. He seemed a little stiffer this time; or more nervous, but I couldn't figure out as of why. Him looked like he was fighting his own thoughts; as if he really, really wanted to tell us something, but since we had nothing to do with Mojo's escape, he couldn't. Maybe that was why he looked so nervous?

"When can I meet Brick?" he asked. "It's probably been a month since last time."

"We still have him under probation." I said in a slightly mocking tone to tease the demon. I needed to make him frustrated; maybe he could tell us what he wanted to tell us without us having to give him something back? "But as soon as we trust him enough, I can bring him to visit you; then you'll see how much he has developed."

"I will be waiting on the edge of my chair." he said. "Or on the bed - you broke my chair last time." he turned to Leo; suddenly changing the subject as if he knew what I was doing. "Did you know that they won't replace anything in this prison? If something breaks, it is forever broken."

"Don't tell me you're trying to make me feel guilty because I broke your chair?" whined Leo with a barely noticeable smile.

"I didn't want you here for pity." he assured him. "Honestly, I thought _you_ were the ones that wanted to stop Butch."

"We're doing fine. I don't think we need more help from you." I said, shaking my head with a self-assured frown.

"Is that so?" he asked curiously, and Leo looked at me.

"I can't see how we can trust that your information is true when you don't want to stop him yourself; you might as well give us false directives that do the opposite. We don't have time for that. So I'm letting you off."

"You think a single clue can help you stop him?" the demon started to laugh and Leo took a barely noticeable step forward, but I stopped him by hushing quietly. "You're truly naive, Blossom, just like you've always been."

"And look where I am today... where are you?"

He stopped laughing and glared rebelliously at me. Then his face softened again and became as expressionless and bored as mine was. "You really don't want me to see Brick."

"Preferably not, if it can be avoided." I mumbled.

"Shall we take separate paths again?"

"Looks that way." I said with a shrug.

Him kept staring at me; trying not to grind his teeth; and right before I turned around he stopped me. "Okay, okay! I can give you something! But then you have to _promise_ to bring Brick soon."

"How soon?" I asked.

The demon pondered for a few seconds. "Two weeks. Then you don't have to release a prisoner."

I glanced at Leo who gave me an accusing look with raised eyebrows; before turning to Him again. "Two weeks, but give us information now."

Him sighed with such a wide smile it almost went from ear to ear. "You're good." he chuckled, waiting for a short while before talking again; as if he was carefully choosing his words. "His... behavior... it's not because of me."

"Behavior?" Leo asked, but I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Yes, his behavior." said the demon. "It's not because of me. He created that himself, so he's not under my control."

"So he _is_ a sociopath?" Leo moaned and looked like he was going to throw up.

I didn't know what to think about that (we still didn't know anything about Liam or where he was… what if he was _only_ hiding from us, but had already given up?), but I tried to keep to the conversation instead of jumping to my own conclusions. "That's why you chose him..." I pointed out, but stared straight ahead of me.

That's exactly what Him had said when Brooke and I visited the first time - that he had chosen Liam because he was so elusive, on the verge of being relentless... But why did he then say he had chosen him because of the qualities that made him so similar to _Brooke_? … and why did I suddenly remember all of this?

While Him nodded with a superior grin, I spat out: "He's _nothing_ like Brooke! There is nothing he has in common with her!" without thinking about it, I moved closer to the demon whose eyes got wider. "How _dare_ you believe they're alike?!"

"They are what they are after all..." said the demon with a quick glance at Leo. "It wasn't _me_ who wanted them to be your opposites."

"They are as different from us as they can be!"

"And yet..." he nodded meaningfully to Leo again.

"You're wrong." I murmured. "Brooke is nothing like Liam."

"If you say so." Him kept looking into my eyes, and I discovered that I was standing only a couple of feet from his bed. "But you said it yourself; that Brick was quite strong-willed… what were your exact words again? Oh, yeah; _just like you_." He tilted his head with a devious smile. "See you in two weeks?"

"Fine!" I growled and flew out the door with Leo behind me, and we were back home only a second later.

"What happened?" he asked as we landed on the driveway.

"You were there; you didn't miss anything this time." I said, walking around in a small circle without really knowing what I was doing.

"But what was all that talk about? That Brooke wasn't like Liam?"

I told him about the first time Brooke and I had been there; Him told us he _chose_ Liam because he had the same temperament and qualities as Brooke. Today he meant that Liam was born that way and that the demon had _not_ mixed with his _mentality_... but he _had_ mixed with something else, and I was going to find that out.

"In other words; he thinks Brooke is as messed up as Liam."

"It's debatable..." Leo murmured and I gave him a murderous look. "Oh, I was kidding!"

"Funny..."

"I'm sorry. But we _both_ know she's nothing like him! She would never do the stuff Liam is doing! He's evil."

"I know..." I sighed. "It's a good thing that Him tells us more than what he thinks he does; now I'm a hundred percent sure that he did something with Liam while re-creating the three of you. Something he did only with Liam and not with you and Luke; he literally said that he _chose_ Liam, right?" I clarified when Leo looked questioning at me. I don't know what it was, but I felt more focused today than what I'd done in a couple of months; but it started to slowly wear off again… I felt tired. "Come on, we have to tell Luke that he can go see the demon soon."

**Professor**  
Irene, Luke, the twins, and I were in the living room when Betty and Leo came home again.

"A new clue." Leo just mumbled and sat down on the couch next to Irene where the twins were on their stomachs, trying to keep their heads up. "Or two, kind of."

"Shall we…?" I asked Betty and looked towards the hallway where the stairs down to my lab was.

Betty stood behind Irene and leaned over the backrest on the couch. "No, or I don't think so, anyway." she looked exhausted.

"What did he say?" asked Becca, who was standing by the back door with Brooke behind her. She walked in and stood by the couch next to Leo, but Brooke stayed by the door.

"He said that Liam's behavior is not his cause." replied Leo.

"His behavior?" Luke wondered.

"The sociapathism." said Leo, and though it was a fictitious word I understood immediately what he meant.

"So, it's all him?" I asked.

"Seems like it." said Betty.

"I told you the demon didn't have a plan." Brooke mumbled, still standing with one foot over the threshold. "And if you want to know my opinion; I actually don't think they work together either; why would Liam help him? I bet the demon only wants us to believe that they're on the same side. But they also somewhat are; they both want to get rid of us, they're just not gonna do it together."

"What is he doing, then?" Luke asked. "Why hasn't he struck already, and how can Him know we were tricking him?"

Brooke glared at Luke but didn't seem too annoyed that he had talked to her. "Him can have other contacts. But as for Liam; he is playing with us. He wants us to feel this false sense of security so he can strike when we least expect it." She looked around at every one of us. "Yeah, I've seen how comfortable you all are. Thank me later for still being on guard."

Becca sat on the armrest of the couch watching her children as she broke the silence that arose after Brooke's theory. "Do you think he's listening right now?" she whispered.

"No doubt." said Brooke before I could try to cheer Becca up. "Or he doesn't; you never know. But he definitely isn't doing it for Him."

"What's on your mind, Brooke?" I asked her as kindly as I could to not anger her. "I mean... what do you think he's doing right now? It seems that you have several ideas and theories, and I want to know exactly what you are thinking. So, please, share."

"Okay..." Brooke leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed. "He is obviously intelligent - smarter than any of us realized - but he is also a sociopath, apparently. What does the inside of a psychopath's head look like?" she looked at us all. "Right? It's like a cat-and-rat game to him; he's trying to nurse us into a false sense of security so that we get confused. _Where is Liam_? _Why hasn't he done something yet_? _Has he given up_? These are the exact thoughts he wants us to think. He is looking for weak openings, blind spots - when do we feel safe enough to leave the house? Split up."

"But what is he looking for?" Becca asked in horror.

"Me... you... all of us." Brooke continued. "He intends to take us one by one until he has wiped everyone out. And I think he'll take me last." she slowly dragged her tongue over her bottom teeth as she looked to think hard, with a wrinkle between her eyebrows. "It's just a matter of time before he takes someone who is not here, to lure us out, separate us from the others."

"Is this... is this a possibility?" Irene breathed and looked at me for answers.

I shook my head slowly, wanting to say no, but Brooke answered instead of me. "Yes, of course it is a possibility! We have to think about every little outcome before it's too late. How do you think he thinks? Since he is not here right now fighting us, I bet he is hiding somewhere, thinking out a thousand different plans a day and have this huge storage of various plans already."

"You knew him best..." I mumbled. "And you, Luke and Leo, do you think he could do something like that... _wipe us out_?"

They looked at each other for a second. "I don't know..." murmured Leo.

"Maybe..." said Luke, and Betty glanced at him. "Or, I don't know... I mean ...I didn't think he wanted to fight you for real on the road, either. He's constantly outdoing himself."

"So the possibility exists." Brooke said darkly. "I'm going to continue to guard now." she turned in the doorway and flew up on the roof.

"What should we do?" whispered Betty and looked directly at me.

"You can take Luke upstairs and practice walking. Surely you can try to walk a little?" I asked Luke, who was sitting in the wheelchair in front of the television.

He looked shocked with raised eyebrows. "Uh, yeah, sure... I can do that."

"Great. Becca or Leo; help Brooke guard, and I'll call Charles. Irene, we could need your help. We need to discuss the solution we were talking about earlier."

"What solution?" Betty asked.

"I'll tell you at dinner."

"And Mojo?" Luke asked.

I had completely forgotten that Mojo Jojo had escaped from prison; but told Betty that she could take Brooke with her and find him just to put an end to it.

**Butch**  
A dark haired woman's high heels echoed through the rather empty shopping mall as she passed me. I was watching the big clock reflected in the shiny, polished stone floor, and turned my gaze up just in time to catch her looking at me. I answered the grueling smile she gave me while struggling underneath the weight of her shopping spree. Had she been smarter she probably wouldn't have bought so many shoes at the same time, and she probably wouldn't have struggled with her bags and boxes had she wore better shoes on her feet; it looked like she was going to sprain her ankle any moment now.

I rolled my eyes at her; had this been an ordinary day for me, I would probably have turned on the charm and helped her with her bags - it was with a hundred percent certainty that's what her smile had asked for - but today I had more important things to do.

The woman - who had not realized that she was at least ten years older than me (probably because she was so vain; I noticed that when she got upset with me for the lack of response to her silent and flirtatious inquiry) - continued forward, and I followed her out to the parking lot. As she started looking for her car, I started looking for this specific building that should be taller than the mall itself, and which would be visible all over the city. If I saw that tower, then I would find what I was initially here for.

It wasn't long before I saw the skyscraper and followed it to the northeast; and in its shadow I spotted the residential area with the palm trees, the white houses and the pesky old folks. On a sign above this extraordinary entrance to the area I read "_Charleston Paradise for the Elderly_". I had found it.

I knocked on the door to one of the houses from which came a scent I was familiar with, and didn't have to wait long before it opened, and an old but healthy-looking lady in her seventies looked up at me. "Yes?" she said surprised and narrowed her eyes when she didn't see who I was because of the sun behind me.

"Hi!" I said, tilting a little to block the sun for her. "Liam Berger - Brookes boyfriend - don't you recognize me? We celebrated Christmas together last year…"

"Oh! Liam Berger, of course I recognize you!" Arabella Utonium opened the door and stepped aside to let me in. "What a surprise! Would you like something to drink? Are you here by yourself?"

"Thank you so much." I smiled and stepped into the vestibule. Arabella led me into the combined living room and kitchen. Her apartment was clean, bright, open planned and simple; just like in a sunny Florida movie. "We spent a few days at a friend of my aunt's who lives right by the beach on Dewees Island. I asked my aunt to make a quick stop so I could stop by and say hi to you on our way home." I sat down on the couch. "Brooke told me where you lived."

"Is she coming too?" Arabella asked and walked into the kitchen to make a drink of some sort for me.

"She will be here any moment." I said without lying - Brooke would definitely be here the second she hears about my visit. "I think she was about to get ready."

"It's not easy being a teenage girl." said Arabella, pouring two glasses of ice-cold pink lemonade before walking across the living room. She gave me one glass and sat down on the armchair. "Of course she wants to look nice for you; you're so handsome, Liam, just like your two brothers. You are very good looking all three; so I understand what my girls see in you." even though she was just babbling, I looked like I was interested, and smiled and chuckled at the right moments. "But ya'll very different for being triplets."

"Leo's got a little rounder face than I do." I agreed with an adjustable smile.

"And you both got a little taller than Luke... but he has a wider smile and freckles. Oh, and had he not been in that accident… it's so sad, ruining a perfect face like his, poor boy." She shook her head, looked up at me, and her face changed: "But on the other hand; Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup look different from each other as well. Bubbles is much taller than the other two but has a sweeter and younger face…"

While the old lady was talking about her granddaughters, I tried not to lose my temper. She was very annoying - but that's not why I was here.

After she had fairly detailed the similarities and differences between Professor Utonium and his younger brother Eugene (even though they were not twins or clones of each other in any way), she asked me: "So how is school?"

"It's okay." I said while choking a little on my own my words; luckily I knew what to say instead of having to try and improvise.

"I heard you would get a basketball scholarship if you studied the last semester at your old school in San Antonio?"

Why couldn't they have been more creative? But I went with it and nodded. "That's right." was the only thing I could come up with as I had no further details about my imagined life.

"And I see you've cut your hair; you look like a real young man."

"Thank you." I said through clenched teeth - couldn't she stop talking about my appearance?

"That shaved up-do didn't suit you at all, dear. But you still have that piercing in your eyebrow, when did you intend to remove- "

"You're right, I'll remove it today!" I threw out between my teeth but smiled widely with my eyes closed. Damn that hag could get on my nerves! I immediately relaxed my face and smiled pleasantly again. I lifted the glass and took a sip, trying to sound calm when I started talking again. "Delicious lemonade, Mrs. Utonium, is it your own recipe?"

"Call me Arabella, dear." she giggled shyly as if my words were a significant compliment. "I can write down the recipe if you want it?"

"By all means." I grinned, and just what I wanted; the old lady walked toward the kitchen, pulled out a drawer in the kitchen counter and took out a paper and a pen.

As she slowly, with her back turned to me, wrote down the recipe for her lemonade; I took advantage of the few seconds she focused on the sheet of paper to fly around her apartment. I flew in and out the rooms faster than the light; pulled out drawers; lifted statuettes, touched every surface I passed and crawled under furniture to spread my scent; and it only took a few seconds before I found something I wasn't expecting to be interested in to begin with. On a tiny side table in the bathroom stood a few scented candles and a small black frame with pearl embellishments, and I quickly put it in my pocket on my jacket before sitting down on the couch again where Arabella Utonium had left me.

"Here you go, sweetheart." she said kindly and handed me the note with the lemonade recipe. "Although I don't really know why... I wrote it down... Oh, well! Now you won't make any mistakes at least."

That was what was so wonderful about my perfectly in handy and practical trait – it didn't matter what I said or in this case asked for; it always made sense to others. What could possibly be written on that piece of paper that I otherwise couldn't have figured out on my own? Lemon, sugar and water… oh, and _strawberries_. I hope nobody mugs me and steals this secret formula…

"Thank you so much, Mrs... I mean Arabella." she giggled again and seemed to blush through the thin, old skin on her neck. I drank the last of the lemonade and stood up. "I must go now. I was supposed to wait for Brooke but she just sent a text message saying she would be late; and my aunt sent a text saying we had to go so we can be home before Sunday at least. But Brooke is still coming."

"I understand; it's a long drive back to Texas. It was very nice to meet you again, and thank you for the visit, dear."

"No problem at all. Thank _you_ for the lemonade." I waved the note in front of me before stuffing it in my pocket with the photo frame. I looked up and smiled obliquely at her. "Without this recipe, I probably wouldn't have managed to live another day." I leaned closer to her. "I'll be back soon."

**Buttercup**  
Even though the others knew I was right; they didn't really dare to believe my suspicions about Leo's brother who didn't seem to be competent enough to decide what to do. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure either, but mostly I hoped I was wrong. The main thing was that we could now be more prepared in case something serious happened to us. The past few weeks had been quiet on his part, far too eventless to be satisfactory; and the more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was actually right.

Finding Mojo was not difficult; he sat on a park bench under a tree and looked confused. A few years ago his "_secret_" nest was demolished in this very spot - that's why we knew where to look first.

"Where are the police?" Betty sounded annoyed when we landed in front of the monkey who was looking up from the ground.

"Don't know, and I don't care. Come here, Mojo, time to go back to jail."

"What are _you_ doing here? How did you find me?" the primate growled, refusing to stand up from the bench.

"He thinks we're in his observatory." Betty whispered to me.

I grabbed Mojo's arm, and as he looked into my eyes I felt sick to my stomach. I actually felt sorry for him… "Come on, Mojo." I breathed without any volume at all on my voice.

"Get your dirty paws off me!" he roared and pulled out of my loose grip. "I will never follow you without a fight!"

"I don't know what to do…" I whispered and turned to Betty for support, but she just looked at the monkey with glossy eyes, and I think she felt the same as me.

"I'm serious! You'll never catch me!"

Mojo began to stumble across the park with his hands dragging in the ground behind him… this was a work of jail environment; he needed help. Betty and I looked at each other for a long time before nodding decisively.

…

"We will take good care of him." the blonde nurse woman chirped with a big smile and streaks for eyes. "Visiting hours are every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday between eleven and half past three, you are most welcome back!"

"Thank you." Betty crouched down to Mojo Jojo's level. "You're with people that will take good care of you, Mojo. We will be visiting soon, I promise."

"My boys? Are they also going to visit?" the monkey asked without looking at her. Somehow he understood where he was and that he was going to stay here.

Betty looked like she was about to cry, but answered quietly. "I'm going to try to get them to come along. Take care now, Mojo."

"See ya..." I muttered and flew after Betty across the park back home. But before we could discuss what had just happened further, my cell phone rang and I quickly picked up. "Yeah?"

"_Hi, Buttercup, it's Grandma!_" I hadn't checked who was calling, and had probably waited to answer if I had seen it was her. Not that I didn't want to talk to her, but that she wouldn't be able to hear me while I was swooshing through the air.

"Oh, hey." I said, slowing down so that the wind wouldn't be too noisy for her. Now I flew in walking speed, which is soooo sloooooow. "How are you?" She usually never called me.

"_I'm fine, thank you! How are you, sweetie?_" I opened my mouth to answer but was immediately interrupted again. "_Are you on your way now?_"

"On my way?" how did she know I had been out?

"_Yes? Aren't you coming over?_"

"Why do you think that? Had I scheduled something with you today?" I asked in surprise. I hope Grandma wasn't getting as old as Mojo…

Betty, who'd slowed down with me and obviously heard everything we talked about, looked as surprised as I was.

"_Maybe I misunderstood... Oh, I'm sorry, Buttercup_." Grandma hesitated for a second. "_But he said you were getting ready, and then you would be here; and it's been half an hour now since he left. He also said he would come and visit again soon._"

"Who will be visiting again soon?" I asked and stopped dead in the air. Something freezing ran down my face and neck and seemed to gather into a lump in my stomach. Betty's terrified look said it all - the truth in my suspicions.

"_He said they were only passing, and stopped only for a short while to say hi before driving back home_..." She hadn't noticed the nervous tone of my voice and kept on talking as if this was a normal conversation. _"He's so handsome, that boy, especially now that he's cut his hair._"

"Grandma ... Who... were... there?"

"_Hello? Buttercup? I can't hear you, sweetie._"

I was already standing at the doorstep before she had finished her sentence. Betty flew around the house to look for Liam as I walked straight into Grandma's apartment.

"Oh, that's why I didn't hear you; you were on your way here. Hey, sweetie." Grandma hugged me when she saw me in the hallway. She looked unharmed. "Are you alright, dear? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's nothing." I shook my head and smiled, listened to Betty's buzzing as she was flying around the city. She talked to Professor on her phone. "Was he here?" I asked, choking on my saliva as the block of ice in my stomach trembled.

"Yeah, he left thirty minutes ago. It's a pity you missed him; but it's as you said before - you can meet him any time you want since you can fly."

"Are we thinking about the same person here?" I asked so quietly Grandma didn't hear me. "Liam..." I whispered, and my voice cut off.

I felt it now - his scent. He had been here not long ago, in my grandmother's apartment, completely alone with her. What did he want? What had he already done and what was he planning to do? At the same time I heard Betty and Becca discuss the latest news on the phone, and they planned what to do next.

"Right, Liam, your boyfriend." said Grandma. "And he was very nice. I have always been able to trust my gut feeling; and just like Bubbles you have found a proper boy, Buttercup; even though he has a hole in his eyebrow. Keep him close, okay?"

All I wanted was to sink through the ground, sink into the darkest void... I told about my suspicions to my family only forty minutes ago - around the same time Liam must have been… visiting. Had he been inspired by me? Was it because of me that he had knocked on my grandmother's door? Had he eavesdropped on us? Had he been close enough to hear me; without us noticing him? Had he been so close...

I told this to my family to prepare them for the worst... _were_ we prepared? Did I feel prepared now?

"What's this frame, Grandma?" I heard Betty say behind me at the door and Grandma hugged her and squealed before answering.

"Oh… It's my favorite photo frame, the one made of mother-of-pearl! It was a photo of you three in it... _but it must have disappeared somehow... where did you find the frame_?"

"_Right outside the door..._"

Their voices got lower and lower, as if I were dipping my head underwater. I lay down on the couch where his scent was stronger than anywhere in the entire apartment, and let the darkness overwhelm me.


	9. Chapter 8 - The bubblegum effect part 1

**The bubblegum effect part 1**

**Butch**  
Calm. Silence. That familiar heat in the air. I was finally home.

I had landed in a residential area with similar grey and mundane - even boring - brick houses around this small cul-de-sac with the American flag in the middle of it; creating a pretty unnecessary roundabout. There were ten houses in this small area where the closest neighbors were twenty miles away in both directions along this straight endless road passing through. Everything was the same. Nothing had changed after two years. Behind the houses rose the mountain to the darkening sky; black and solid; and just around the corner of the root of it was the small local grocery slash hardware store.

A chilly wind created goose bumps in my neck - Texas cold night's breeze got the nostalgia bubble up inside me, and I pulled up the collar of the camouflage-patterned jacket I had once inherited from my... friend.

I stood in front of the most familiar house of the ten that stood here in the wilderness, the house I saw for the first time eleven and a half years ago with the tower-like extension on top of the roof with a big skylight.

The house I grew up in.

_April 8, 1999_  
My brothers; Brick and Boomer; and I slowly walked behind a big man with a black suit. From behind he looked like a massive gorilla, and he made the people at the airport move out of the way because of his size, and it was faster for us to get to our destination.

"Where are we going?" Boomer asked the woman who walked behind us to make sure we didn't escape; but she said she was there for "moral support".

"We're going to see a man who will talk to you about where you're going, and why. And he'll give you your new names." She was quite tall with a marine blue dress suit and brown high heels. She had a cute and kind face with fluffy cheeks, small lips and big brown eyes. Her dark blond hair was in a high ponytail in the back of her head.

"But I like my name!" Brick hissed at her. His red eyes seemed to shoot lightning bolts in her direction; hadn't they taken our powers away I'm sure he would throw one of his tantrums and blow up the place with his laser beams.

"We are doing this to protect you; I've already explained this to you several times." The woman said with a sigh. "Half of those times in the van on the way to this airport."

Boomer and Brick said nothing more about it, and we continued to follow the robust man who plowed the way for us. He stopped in front of a door by a tall grey wall, took out a plastic tag from his jacket pocket attached to a string and pressed it up against a code lock central next to the door. The central made a blip noise, and something in the door clicked. He opened the door and let us step in first.

My brothers and I passed him as we continued looking grumpily down on the floor.

We continued to walk through a long and quiet corridor until we reached yet another door that the security guard opened. "The boys are here." he said with his deep voice into the room.

"We're ready for them." another man answered from inside the room.

The gorilla showed us in. We walked into an illuminated room with a table in the middle of it, with mirrors on the walls. Two men sat at the table; an old man who looked very important with white hair and a navy blue suit; and a younger brown-haired man with a mustache.

"Sit down, boys." said the old man seriously, pointing to the chairs in front of the two men.

I sat down in one of the four chairs and my brothers followed my lead. The woman who had walked behind us sat on the fourth chair, and the large security guard who had shown us the way through the airport closed the door behind her.

"Welcome, boys. My name is Thomas Thatcher. " said the old man, looking at all three of us. He picked up a stack of paper from the table and tapped it to straighten the sheets. "Today we're going to decide your new names, give you passports, identifications, and birth certificates. We wanted to prepare the papers for you before this meeting, but Professor Utonium wanted you boys to be a part of this decision… for some reason."

Brick and I grinded our teeth from the sound of that dumb scientist's name.

"When we're done with that…" Thomas Thatcher sighed – he already thought this meeting had been going on for too long. "…you will be able to accompany Mr. Berger home." he nodded at the brown-haired man who was sitting next to him. He still hadn't said anything yet.

"Why?" asked Boomer, who was the only one of us three who wasn't particularly angry about the situation.

"Professor Utonium wanted you to start on a new page somewhere far from Washington, so you need to change your names; so that you are as protected as possible. Didn't Ms. Rowan tell you this? "

"Yeah." all three answered in unison.

"Well then." Mr. Thatcher flipped through the papers until he found what he was looking for. "Let's start by deciding your birthday. Today is quite appropriate, right?"

"What a fantastic birthday." I muttered and put my chin on my arms on the table.

"How about tomorrow, then?" Ms. Rowan asked me. I shrugged.

"Then, your birthday will be the ninth of April... nineteen hundred and ninety-two? They seem to be around seven, I'd guess? " asked Mr. Thatcher, and Ms. Rowan agreed. Thatcher wrote it down when I looked up again. He flipped through the papers again. "Oh, boy; this is the fun part." He groaned quietly. "Your new names."

"You can decide exactly what you want." promised Ms. Rowan who sat farthest away from me.

"Well, not _exactly_ what they want; it must still be a normal name." said Thatcher. "We don't want them to attract _any_ kind of attention."

None of us said anything. What did they expect? That we would just voluntarily give them everything they wanted? That we would cooperate with them?

"I can give you suggestions on some popular names in Texas to choose from." When Mr. Berger opened his mouth for the first time, I heard that he had a very deep dialect from the south.

"Texas?" I asked.

"My wife, Daniella, and I live in a large newly built house in Fort Davis, Texas. It's where you boys are going - home with us."

"Are there cowboys there?" Brick asked excitedly.

"No." laughed Mr. Berger. "But they _have_ been there."

"Indians?" Boomer sounded a little anxious.

Mr. Berger's upper lip twitched a little, but then he answered: "There are some Native American reservations there, but they don't call themselves Indians anymore."

"But they _are_ Native Americans? Right?" Brick wanted to know.

Mr. Berger chuckled. "Yes." he smiled fatherly at Brick's exasperated little face. "So... Liam is a common name down there."

"I'll take that!" I said quickly.

"I also want a name that starts with an L." Brick said.

"Hmm…" Mr. Berger thought. "Luke-"

"_I'll take that!_" Brick said as quickly and firmly as I had done. He glanced at me with a smile and raised eyebrows, as if to say he was faster than me.

I grinned back, then we both turned to Boomer and eagerly looked back at Mr. Berger to find out what Boomer's new name would be.

"Pick one that starts with an L!" Brick almost demanded Boomer, who nodded uncertainly.

"Alright." said Mr. Berger. "We have Logan..." Boomer pondered for a moment but shook his head. "Landon?" he shook his head again. "Lawrence? Lee? Lincoln? Uhh... Lucky?" Boomer continued to shake his head at each name. "Leon?"

He raised his eyebrows in amazement and stared at Mr. Berger for a moment, but then shook his head again.

"It's getting closer at least?" asked Mr. Berger.

"Just pick something!" complained Brick.

"What about 'Leo'? It's short, it's easy to remember, and it's a pretty awesome name. _And_; it means lion in Latin." said Ms. Rowan, winking at Boomer. He nodded eagerly and smiled wide.

We had been given new names, new birth certificates and new lives, and were now waiting; with a hamburger in our hands; on our plane that would take off in less than an hour.

Mr. Berger squatted in front of me and my brothers where we sat on a bench in the waiting hall, and smiled at us. "I didn't introduce myself properly; my name is Charles Berger." he reached out his hand and we all, a little reluctantly, shook it. "I work as a research doctor at a hospital in San Antonio, and you will be staying with me and my wife Daniella Berger in Fort Davis. We don't have any other children so you won't be in any kind of competition over our love for you. You don't have to call us _mom_ and _dad_ if you don't want to, but we will still treat you as if you were our own sons."

…

We landed at Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock after several hours, and then sat in a car for a few more hours before arriving at Fort Davis. Mr. Berger stopped the car in the middle of the desert in the evening, in a residential area with only ten grey brick houses by the foot of a mountain. The only building there aside from the houses was a combined grocery store; which sold fresh produce from nearby farms; and hardware store.

"Alright, guys, we're here. Welcome to your new home." said Mr. Berger, turning the key to turn off the roaring engine. "Put down those games in your backpacks. Let's go inside and look at your new bedroom."

"We have our own bedrooms?" I asked.

"We're gonna build out the house a bit more to make it possible for more rooms, but until then you're sharing the biggest room in the whole house. It's so big that you will hardly notice each other." he looked at Boomer, who nervously twisted his shirt between his hands. "But you will always hear each other when you whisper in the middle of the night; and if it gets too creepy, you have a night light next to each of your beds. And the best part about the room is that you have a huge skylight in the middle of the ceiling; so you can look at the stars before you fall asleep."

Brick sighed, I rolled my eyes and Boomer smiled encouragingly to Mr. Berger. Boomer would be the first one to crack and settle down in this normal alternative reality.

We all got out of the car and looked around. Sand, sand, sand and mountains as far as the eye could see, and one single straight road that stretched from one horizon to the other, almost entirely without branches except the small unnecessary roundabout before our entry, with an American flag in the middle.

After we had checked our surroundings; which only took a few seconds; we followed Mr. Berger into the house. We had no packing with us because we hadn't owned anything earlier, except the backpacks that Mr. Berger gave us at the airport before we got on the plane. Each of the backpacks had contained a coloring book, a box of crayons, a stuffed animal and one of those Game Guys kids were playing games on.

"Honey, the boys are here!" said Mr. Berger as we entered the front door.

A small woman with large, curly blond hair and round cheeks came into the hallway from the kitchen. "Is that them?" she whispered to her husband. He nodded and she squatted down in front of us with a wide, hot pink lipstick smile. "Hello, boys. My name is Daniella Berger. What's your names?"

"Brick, Butch and Boomer." said Brick, pointing to all three of us. Mr. Berger; standing at the stairs; cleared his throat. "Uh… I mean; Luke, Liam and Leo. Which one am I again?"

"You're _Luke_." I elbowed Brick in his back. "And Boomer is _Lion_."

"It's Leo." Boomer corrected me.

"My name is Liam." I told Mrs. Berger. "I picked it myself."

"Hi, Luke, Liam and Leo. Nice to finally meet you. Are you hungry, kids?"

"Always!" I said excitedly. Finally they said something I could understand.

Mrs. Berger giggled and showed us into the kitchen which smelled of steak and potatoes and some creamy gravy.

"It's our birthday tomorrow." Brick said, sitting down at the table.

"Really? How much are you turning?" asked Mrs. Berger.

"That Thatcher-guy thought we looked like seven years old. So seven." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Happy birthday!" Mrs. Berger glanced at Mr. Berger.

"Oh, I'll go and buy more presents right away!" said Mr. Berger, put on his jacket again and walked out.

_January, year 2000_  
Our new names had started to grow on us and we became more and more accustomed to them after nine months at the doctor's and Mrs. Berger's. Everyone at school knew us by our new names; and so did Charles and Daniella. This was a fresh new start for us. We were living a completely different life now. And it was… normal.

Daniella picked us up after school one day and made a quick stop at the town's almost only gas station on the way home as usual.

"Stay in the car, boys, I'll be back in a second." she said and walked to the small building to pay for the gas. It never took one second but she always said that same sentence anyway.

Luke and Leo were wrestling each other next to me in the back seat, and I hung out through the open window to get some space for myself. I glanced to the building where Daniella walked in, and spotted a dark boy sitting outside with a Popsicle in his hand. He looked to be our age and was happily licking that yellow Popsicle, staring… directly at me.

I looked away, but felt observed, so I looked back at the boy again; he still hadn't let go of me. "Hey! What are you looking at?" I called to him.

Luke and Leo pressed themselves to the window to see who I was talking to. The dark boy just waved with the Popsicle and continued to lick it, continued to look at me. I unbuckled the seatbelt and climbed out through the window.

"Daniella said we should stay in the car." said Leo, but didn't try to stop me; he knew he had no chance against me.

I walked up to the smiling boy, stood above him; and he was still licking his melting Popsicle. "I asked you what you're looking at!" I said threateningly to him.

The boy, who was a Native American, held out his free hand to me. "Hi, what's your name?" he asked; wasn't bothered at all by me.

"Who's asking?" I said angrily; ready to fight him.

The boy finally stopped licking his Popsicle. "My name is Isaac, but they call me Cricket."

"Cricket? What kind of a ridiculous name is that?" I scoffed.

Isaac, or _Cricket_ apparently, shoved his hand down his pocket and offered me small wrapped package.

"A gum?" I asked and received it.

"You can give back another day." said the boy and smiled widely. And I need to say; that was a smile you would never forget if you saw it. It was truly special.

The bell above the door to the gas station pinged and Daniella walked out. She saw me, and her eyes widened in fright. "Liam! Come here; we're going home." she said quickly, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the car.

Luke and Leo stared at us from the back seat, looked scared, and the Native American boy waved at me as I glanced back. I jumped obediently into the car and reattached the seat belt. Daniella had never behaved like this before; I wondered if she was going to yell at me.

She drove out to the main road and back home. "You can't see that boy again." she said stiffly behind the wheel.

"Why not?" I asked in surprise. How could she be so upset that I had talked to a boy my age? As if he had been a murderer or a predator or something.

"Because..." Daniella said, relaxed a little in her shoulders and glanced back at me before looking forward again. "He lives in the Jumano reservation outside of town."

"Was he an Indian?" exclaimed Luke.

"No... or yes..." Daniella replied.

"Is he dangerous?" Leo asked, shrinking a little between us in the backseat.

"Not him; he was just a boy." Daniella said, started to squirm a little awkwardly, as if she didn't really want to talk about it. "But the others, the older people from that reservation; _they_ can be dangerous."

"Why?" I wondered again.

"Because they are. Okay? Never ask about them again. Don't talk to that boy again, is that understood?"

"But-"

"Is that understood, Liam?" she looked at me over her shoulder, longer than she used to do while driving, and I nodded quickly.

I put my hand down in my pocket and felt the little rectangular package I had received from the boy. I took it out, opened the paper and stuffed the bubblegum into my mouth as I pondered.

_October, 2005 (five years and ten months later)_  
I drove on the main road without having an actual goal in mind. The road in front of me was dark and the air around me was chilly. Luke; that dense coward; didn't dare take a ride with me in Charles's car anymore; just because I was thirteen years old didn't mean I couldn't drive. We had done this several times before, but he still chickened out and stayed behind. Fortunately, Charles and Daniella were asleep and didn't wake up when I pushed the car and started it in the roundabout hundred and fifty feet from the house, and now I was completely free for a few hours.

The attachable headlights on the roof of the truck lit up the sides of the road, but there was nothing to see; sand after sand after sand after sand… The reason why I wanted to get away with the car was really quite non-existent; I was simply bored.

A movement ahead caught my eye; there was a person walking along the edge of the road and showing me the thumb - a hitchhiker. I pondered for a moment before stopping; it could be a killer or even a gang member. I was driving on the road between Fort Davis and the Jumano reservation, so what said that the hitchhiker wasn't a bloodthirsty Native American?

There was this infamous gang out here that I had heard a lot about growing up; and not only from my own folks. That gang drove around on these roads; a bunch of Jumano Indians who called themselves "Mohawks". According to it all, they were hard criminals; dealing and doing drugs, fought other tribes, raped and murdered; and their leader was a devil. Not a real devil, but he called himself "Diablo".

But when the headlights lit up the person I was stopping for, I saw that he couldn't be old enough to join a gang; he was clearly a Native American with reddish-brown skin and black, unruly hair, but he looked younger than me. Besides, he was half my size, so he couldn't be dangerous, right?

The boy opened the door on the passenger side and hopped in. "Thanks for stopping! I live in the caravan park a couple miles ahead. You don't have to drive me all the way if you don't want to. You can drop me off by the crossing."

"No problem." I said. I still had no other plans this evening. I glanced at the boy who had been out walking by himself on the road in the middle of the night. "How old are you?" I asked.

"Fourteen. You?"

"Thirteen." I said; a little embarrassed considering he was older than me but looked so much younger. I really shouldn't assume people's ages by their looks; what if he also turned out to be a crazy gang member?

He stared at me. "You don't have a driver's license, do you?"

I blushed. "You don't say? At least I _look_ sixteen."

"You look _eighteen_ even! You're pretty big." said the boy impressed. "I'm not gonna tell anyone, though." he promised. "My brother started driving when he was our age, too. Out here; nobody cares."

"How old is your brother?"

"_He_ is eighteen. Four years older than me."

"Do you know how to drive?" I asked.

"No, I haven't tried."

"What are you doing out here, by the way?"

"Oh… it was my brother and his friends. They thought it would be fun to drop me off in the wilderness. He said it was some kind of 'manhood test'. If I got home without being killed by a pack of coyotes or a mountain lion he would consider me a grownup…"

"It wasn't very fun." I mumbled.

"For me." he said, laughing sadly. "But they thought it was really funny. They laughed when they drove off several hours ago. That was before the sun was setting." We sat silent for a moment until he asked; "What's your name, by the way?"

"Who's asking?" I muttered.

"Okay, I can start: my name is Cricket."

I almost drove off the road when I heard his name and stared at him in amazement. It was the same guy who sat outside the gas station almost six years ago! The boy licking a yellow Popsicle!

"Cricket?" I asked, stunned.

"Yeah. Or, my brother and his friends call me Cricket. My real name is Isaac Clarke."

I reached for the glove compartment at the passenger seat, pulled out a chocolate bar and handed it to him. "Now we're even." I smiled.

"Thanks. But why do I get a melted, half-eaten chocolate bar? " Cricket asked, laughing.

"You gave me a pack of gum six years ago and said I could give back one day."

Cricket's eyes turned round with surprise, and he began to laugh even more. "It's you! After all this time!"

"Yes! I know!" I also started laughing. "My name is Liam-" something told me I wasn't supposed to give him my new name.

I was reminded of the time Daniella had scolded me in the car for talking to this boy almost six years ago, and that memory plus the reason for our name changes made me hesitate.

"... L." I said. "My friends call me L."

"Only L?" Cricket asked. "What about Liam?"

"That's just something I created myself. It's not my _real_ name." I shrugged it off. "You know; L… I am L. L, I am. Liam…" I cringed; I sounded like I tried to be a rapper, or a Dr. Seuss character!

"Wow, you're really creative!" at least Cricket seemed to be impressed. "After six years, I finally know your name. Nice to meet you, _L-I am_."

_December, 2006 (over one year later)_  
Cricket and I sat behind the gas station, which we used to do every day after school. We didn't go to the same school; I went to a school outside of town while he went to school in the reservation; but we always met up here when we were finished for the day. Some days we even skipped classes to spend time with each other.

This particular afternoon was one of those days; it was two o'clock and the sun was high in the sky, heating up the air around us. Even though we were sitting in the shade of the gas station, the heat reached us. We both had a bottle of soda and talked about everything under the sun, just about anything that had nothing to do with school. My dirt bike and his regular bicycle stood leaning against the wall next to us. It took about an hour for me to get here from my house, while it took almost three hours for Cricket to bike all the way here from the reservation; yet we met here every day. We could meet up closer to him, but there was nothing to do closer to the reservation.

A growling sound made us both shiver. We listened to the roaring car that stopped with howling tires outside the gas station on the other side of the building. We looked at each other, but didn't have to speak the name we both thought of. Only Cricket's brother Aaron drove like a dickhead on these roads; and only he had a car that sounded worse than Charles'.

"Come on." I said and got up.

"No, please, can't we just ignore him today?" asked Cricket. But I just kept walking towards the front of the gas station and he followed me.

"Oi." I greeted Cricket's older brother who walked to the door to enter the station.

"Check this out, guys!" Aaron laughed and stopped. He had a black Mohawk on his head (which almost every guy around our age from the reservation had), a way too big camouflage-patterned jacket and a pair of big, torn up jeans. "Whazzaahhh, brother?" he pulled Cricket under his arm and rubbed him on his head with his knuckles.

Aaron's two Jumano friends; both with the same hairstyle as him; closed up behind him and just stared disapprovingly at me. They had many times seemed to want to fight me; but stood by because of my size.

"Damn, L, you never stop growing? You must be at least six five by now." Aaron said as if he had interpreted their facial expressions. "Why aren't you in school?"

I shrugged. "Do you have a smoke?"

"It's the third time this week." Aaron complained, but still took the package out of the back pocket, handed me the cigarette and lit it for me when I had stuffed it in my mouth. I drew a long-awaited breath. "You owe me." Aaron suddenly said; as if he waited for me to start smoking before telling me this. "I want a full package tomorrow."

"Are you shitting me?" I exclaimed in surprise and took the cigarette out of my mouth. "Take it back, I don't want it."

"It's for every cigarette I've given you. I can't hand out free smokes to people, you know."

"Forget about it."

I must've missed a signal of some sort; one of Aaron's friends suddenly punched me in the stomach. I leaned forward to try and catch my breath. When the other one took a step toward me something blackened before my eyes; I wasn't going to let them beat me up outside a gas station in the middle of the bright day.

With a quick motion I straightened my back, turned around and upper-cut the guy coming from behind me. Then I quickly turned around again and socked the first guy who had punched me in the stomach. This was the first time I fought someone since we moved here; and I floored them both within a couple seconds.

A fist hit my jaw and I quickly turned to Aaron who was holding his hands in front of him in the air. "_Wait, wait, wait_! Peace, _mi_ _hermano_." he said calmly (even though he had been the one punching _me_) and smiled with half-closed eyes. Aaron and his friends were obviously affected by drugs; but they always were. "What a fucking machine! I like you, L. What do you say about hanging with us from now on? You don't have to owe me the cigarettes anymore."

I thought for a moment about the offer. Life here in Fort Davis was actually pretty eventless. Sad. There was absolutely nothing to do except sitting outside the gas station all day - Cricket and I had known each other for just over a year, but we had already explored just about everything within a thirty mile radius.

I glanced at Cricket, who had held his distance, slowly shaking his head. "What would I be doing with _you_?" I asked Aaron.

"Come on, it's not what we usually _do_ that matters - it's who we _are_."

"Who are you then?"

Aaron smiled and looked around as he weighed back and forth on his feet. He leaned forward, closer to me, and lowered his voice. "We are a family." he stretched himself again and laughed. "_La familia_! Or you can continue to hang here outside the gas station for days on end, I don't care. Oh, good, they're waking up."

We all looked down at Aaron's friends who started to moan and groan.

I looked quickly at the gas station's windows and saw that the clerk was hiding in there pretending to be oblivious to what was going on out here. It was a kind of a habit to not care about the Native Americans in this area, if you didn't want to have any problems with them.

"So what do you say?" Aaron looked at me defiantly.

"Sure." I said, and Cricket looked down on the ground with big, disappointed eyes. "But only if Cricket is allowed too."

"L..." he whispered but I didn't care.

"Fine. But he is _your_ responsibility." Aaron reached out his hand and I shook it. "Well, are you helping me with Hitch and Ax?"

"Hitch and Ax?" I asked with a frown - what were those names?

"In our family we choose our own names." Aaron answered, helped me to put one of his friends' arms over my neck so I could drag him to the car. He curved his upper lip over a crooked smile and stared at me with an intense look, as if he had been insane. "From now on you should refer to me as _'Diablo'_."

…

The first year flew by; I hardly remember any of it. The months turned into a hazy mist; were hidden behind a cloud of drugs, alcohol and many, many fights. Diablo and his gang (which were bigger than only three man, I found out later) forced me and Cricket to take heavier and heavier drugs to prove we were serious about wanting to be a part of "the family". At first I felt guilty about having dragged Cricket into this. He was rarely happy; but after a while he and I got used to this new life, and over time, everything became our reality.

We turned passive. Did as we were told.

That same year Cricket and I received a tattoo just above our shoulder blades; _la familia_ trademark. A tattoo that showed that we were... "_apprentices_"... that we were _unconditionally_ willing to join the gang. Diablo was the one doing the tattoo on us in his trailer in the reservation; a red devil's head with a black capitol M in its forehead. M for the name of _the family_; _Mohawks_.

The Mohawk was the definitive sign that we were one of them, as it takes a long time for the hair to grow, and it takes time for trust to be gained. Even years.

We were often affected by drugs when we broke into houses along the main road and when we robbed lonely people in the small town. I had basically dropped out of school, and the police were knocking on my front door every other day; but after a while they stopped visiting us too, and Charles and Daniella didn't know what to do anymore; that I had a curfew every day didn't matter. They had at least two sons left to be proud of.

Before I joined _the family_, I had heard that the Mohawks would be involved in rape; and I was glad that the rumors were only partially true. It was the older members of Diablo's gang who were doing this, and he didn't want it to appear that they had anything to do with him; he said that what was happening behind his back could stay behind his back. It had become his motto. I felt guilty when I heard that an innocent girl had been assaulted by a bunch of grown men... I wish I could do something about it; but I was not the chief, so I had no say whatsoever.

Everything was kept in the shadows of the drug cartels that were way bigger around these parts of Texas and New Mexico.

I once asked Diablo what made him the leader, and how he kept his "subjects" passive like this. I knew I shouldn't be asking him questions like that, but I knew him well enough; he liked me.

He told me that to get the leadership position; or chieftain as he called himself, was if I challenged him to a duel, and the last survivor was the one to deserve the position - that was how he had become chieftain a year before Cricket and I joined. Of course, I didn't want to fight him.

On one hand; I would've killed him on the first try, no matter how tough Diablo thought he was.

On the other; he was my best friend's brother, and I didn't want to get in the middle of something like that.

According to the various tribes out here, it was a tradition to avenge his brother if someone had killed him, and if refused, the only resort was "_haraquri_" (Spanish for the word harakiri meaning suicide). The last thing I wanted was for Cricket to have to choose between me and his own. If I killed Aaron; either Cricket would have to kill me, or himself…

It took about two weeks for Diablo to start my "training". He put me on a special diet – only meat and some illegal steroids. I never took the drugs though, and he accepted my choice for some reason. But he wanted me to be trained day and night, for after a month of building up my muscles he finally announced my purpose in his gang. Fighting.

He had been so bored with illegal cock- and dog fighting and wanted to try something new. He knew he would never be able to do it himself, but he had no problems in introducing me to this totally underground sport. And since Diabo and I had a lot in common, I signed up for it.

About once a week the first few months, I fought other tribes' fighters from neighboring cities; gangs that were coming from all over the state; all the way from Dallas. What attracted them most was the rumor of Mohawk's apex fighter; _Demonio de luz_. No one believed that a pale face could strike so many people without losing a single fight; but what they didn't know (something that Diablo nor even Cricket knew) was that I had somehow developed a superhuman strength over the years.

When we were ten years old, Luke and I discovered that I was stronger than ordinary people; we'd noticed that when I effortlessly lifted my dirt bike above my head as he was stuck under it in the mud. I was ten years old and could carry a whole dirt bike - above my head. It was about the same time that we discovered that Luke could turn invisible.

It seemed that I got stronger the more I worked out and the more I fought. I wasn't going to football practice in school anymore, but they had also been pleased with me and my size.

_Foxes_ from the Apache tribe in Andrews above Odessa; _Reds_ from the Coahuilteco tribe and _FeatherAxe_ from the Carrizo tribe down from Laredo and Kingsville; even the _Bearpaw_ gang from the reservation of Wichita Falls came all the way down to fight me. The only gang who fold the first month were _Bullets_ from the Piro tribe; the rest gave up after six months. And when they gave up, we gained their land. It belonged to us. And their money.

But it wasn't only the Native American gangs who wanted our expanding territory, but also the Spanish, Mexican and American gangs, and no one seemed to be able to win over us; no man was strong enough to win over me. And I gave them several chances – see, I was the only one that never tried to kill my opponent; I only wanted to floor them in one strike.

I had become Diablo's mercenary… and Cricket was left behind in the trailer with syringes in his arms…

…

For the rest of that year, we spent most of our time at Diablo in his trailer in the Jumano reservation. We drank alcohol, did drugs and hung out as normal... if you could call us that... friends. Every now and then we robbed people, but it slowly faded over time.

_July, 2008_  
A year had passed since the last gang gave up. Diablo walked up to me and Cricket where we sat on the couch in his trailer and watched TV with a beer bottle each. "Do you wanna cut your hair?" he asked us and squatted in front of the couch, blocking the television.

"What do we need to do?" I asked without hesitation. Life was boring again, we needed a purpose. _I_ needed a purpose.

"You know that red house on road three hundred and two up Mentone? With that mannequin dressed as a cowboy facing the highway?"

"Doesn't a lonely old man live there?" asked Cricket.

"Yes, he is alone. But I've heard he has a safe."

"I'm listening." I said, wanted to know more about that safe.

"If you break into his house tonight, take the safe and bring it to me; we will cut your hair." Diablo showed his rotting teeth and gums in a smile – biggest sign of being a meth addict. "Plus you get to share thirty percent of whatever's in there - as a bonus. What do you say? Do you want to become real members, once and for all?"

Cricket and I looked at each other, both with the same facial expression; we were tired and red-eyed but very excited.

A few minutes later we were on the highway. It took forty minutes to drive there but eventually we got to Mentone. It was dark and cold outside and the red house was dark and quiet with the cowboy mannequin with his left hand in the air; waving to the cars down the highway we had just pulled off.

"Remember; you'll become main members in this family when you've succeeded in bringing the safe to me." said Diablo from the front seat.

Hitch was the one who drove (he was always the get-away driver, hence his name) and Ax sat in the back with me and Cricket. Till this day I still don't know why he had chosen that name.

I didn't wait another second, and opened the door and stepped out. Cricket followed me, and the others cheered us on from the car as we walked with determined steps to the house.

"Wait, wait..." I whispered as Cricket was about to start banging on the front door.

This was an important night; so I was going to cheat - I wanted that Mohawk. I had let my hair grow during the months I had known Diablo and _the family_. In fact; I didn't care what was in the safe, I only wanted to be cut.

"How do you do that?" Cricket asked impressively as he looked at my hands with wide eyes. They were glowing on the door knob, and the lock clicked. The door slid open.

"Do what?" I whispered, tried not to smile. Someday I was going to show him my special powers; but not tonight.

"Your hands - how do you make them glow like that? How did you open the door?"

"My hands didn't glow. You're just wack. You need to take it easy with the shrooms, alright?"

Cricket didn't laugh with me. His eyebrows dropped as we walked silently into the house. Now Luke would've been of use to us because of his invisibility; he also knew exactly how to sneak – two things that made him non-existent to other people. That was what I was most jealous of when it came to my brothers and me; Luke's invisibility. All those times he had been sneaking into the girls' locker room in school and spied on them while they were showering… it could've been me! But it was a long time ago he did that now… he was such a goodie-goodie nowadays and never really spoke to me anymore; as if he was afraid of me.

Anyway; the safe stood in a corner inside an office downstairs, and I unlocked it the same way I had done with the front door, and this time Cricket didn't even mention it but kept staring at my hands.

Diablo wanted us to bring it to him and open it in his trailer; but he probably hadn't expected it to be this big, and probably weighed over five hundred and fifty lbs. I opened the safe door and peeked inside. There were several bundles of twenty-dollar notes in the safe along with two large gold bars, a golden wrist watch, a golden ring with a large diamond and lots of important-looking bank papers.

"Just put it in your pockets." I whispered to Cricket who did as I told him, and when we had emptied the safe we hurried back to the front door.

It had gone surprisingly well, and we had been quieter than I thought we could be considering we were both wasted. But I would soon be eating my own words…

"All these fucking savages!" a man roared behind us.

I threw myself to the side, landed on my back behind the door and turned around when I heard a loud bang from a shotgun echo across the endless fields. As the noise rang in my ears everything felt like as if it was going in slow motion.

I saw the horror in Cricket's eyes as he looked back at the old man inside the house, but since I was already out I could only see Cricket. We both looked down at the same time - several large gaping holes were bleeding profusely in his chest - and he fell backwards onto the patio with a strenuous, gurgling moan.

A rifle barrel peeked out from behind the door for a second, and the man came stumbling out onto the porch and pointed the gun directly at me.

_To be continued._


	10. Chapter 9 - The bubblegum effect part 2

**The bubblegum effect part 2**

I reacted faster than I thought was possible for a human being. I stood up, jumped the man and tackled him to the flaky, old wooden floor. I sat over him and punched him in his wrinkled face. I couldn't stop thinking about Cricket's expression, and punched the man in his face again... and again... and again...

Something caught my attention, something that echoed far away. "_L! VAMANOS!_" someone called.

"_GET IN THE CAR!_" cried another.

"_DON'T FORGET THE STUFF, DEMONIO!_" roared a third.

I looked up and saw that Hitch had driven the car up to the porch, and they were all yelling at me to gather the stuff and get in.

"But Isaac ..." I mumbled, not quite understanding what they wanted me to do.

"Forget about him!" Diablo shouted. "Grab the stuff and get into the fucking car! The cops are already on the highway! The neighbors must've heard the shot!"

I turned to my right and saw Cricket, just lying there on his back; staring eyes and blood seeping out of the holes in his chest. Gargling noises came out of his throat as he tried to breathe. I felt around in his pockets with shaking hands and pulled the bloody bundles of cash out of them, stood up without being able to look away from his frightened eyes, and just stood there; watching; as life slowly left them.

"I will avenge you, my brother." I mumbled to him without really knowing what I was promising him.

"Get in the car NOW!" Diablo shouted, and I ran to the car and hopped into the back seat while I heard Isaac's last rattling breath.

The drive back to the trailer park in the reservation is something I can't remember no matter how hard I try. The first thing I remember after jumping into car before the drive, was that the three gang members laughing pulled me into the trailer and into the bathroom, where they threw me down on a chair. Black strands of hair fell onto my lap and on the floor while a buzzing noise filled my ears, and after a short moment Diablo took a firm grip of my jaws with one hand and turned my face to his.

"Now you're a Mohawk. Congratulations, Demonio." he said, patting me on the cheek and laughed as if he were insane.

I saw a bundle of bloodstained cash fly past my face in the mirror, but rolled in somewhere behind the toilet and disappeared.

A few more minutes passed - which felt like hours - before I realized I was alone. I pulled off my clothes that were wet of blood, and stepped into the shower in the trashy, dirty bathroom. Inside the shower I broke down. The fear in his eyes was etched into my retinas; the sound of the bang still echoed inside my head. Panic flushed over me like icy water even though I had turned on the hottest temperature in the shower.

How could I let it go this far? I would never see Cricket's brown eyes again; would never again see that weird and unique smile, or hear his laugh. I would never be sitting outside that damn gas station and just talk to him about everything and nothing.

My hands were pressing the sides of my head, it felt like I could crush my own skull had I pressed hard enough. I even considered doing it then and there. I was strong enough to do it, so why shouldn't I? But I decided not to. I was going to live with this. Dying is the easy way out, and I didn't deserve it.

…

After half an hour in the shower I stood in front of the mirror and turned my head to look at it from different angles. The bare sides of my head made me cringe. I picked up the buzzer from the sink edge and put it on top of my head, was about to cut it all off… but I stopped myself and put it down again. I shook my head at my reflection, looking into my sunken in red eyes.

"No… This is going to be a reminder of what I've done today. It'll remind me of how I betrayed my friend... how I forced him to _join in a fucking gang!_" I roared, grabbed the sides of the sink and jerked it off of the wall.

Even though Cricket had been older than me it was me he looked up to! In some strange way it was I who had been _his_ older brother, and I had done nothing to stop him every time he stuffed his mouth with some strange pill, or a mushy syringe of debatable content...

I had made sure that the last years of my best friend's life had been his worst. He was only seventeen years old. He only wanted to hang out with me and did all of this because _I_ wanted to. He tried to stop me but did i listen? Did i ever do something that he wanted to do?

Water sprayed all over the bathroom, and I threw the sink into the living room where I picked up some of Aaron's clothes from the floor (including his way too big jacket with camouflage pattern that fit me perfectly), and a red baseball cap from the coffee table.

I don't know what time it was or how long I walked on the road; but the sun was setting when I started walking, and I was finally back home in the dawn. I had walked all night without any coyotes or mountain lions attacking me.

The first thing that happened when I stepped into the cool hallway in the grey brick house was Daniella walking up to me wearing her pink bathrobe. She was breathing jerkily, looked pissed, and didn't seem to be able to control herself. I couldn't look into her eyes for too long; I knew I had done something really bad this time; and so did she.

She reached out to take off my cap. When she saw what I had underneath it, her face didn't even change - it was as if she had expected it. Her eyes were filled with disappointed tears, but she still said nothing.

Charles came to us in the front hall, he looked at my hair the same way Daniella had done, but looked more exhausted than angry. "There's someone here who wants to talk to you." he said, nodding toward the living room. "Now you fucking behave." he warned me. I put the cap on my head again and followed Charles into the living room, avoided looking at Daniella.

Two men in police uniform sat on the couch with their respective cups of coffee in their hands, and looked at me as I entered the room. They put the cups down on the coffee table in front of them and stood up at the same time.

"Good morning, Liam. My name is Richard McFadden and this is my assistant William Hardin." said one of the men, stretching out his arm towards me.

Richard McFadden was the older of the two men, with dark blonde curly hair underneath his beige Police hat, blue, wise eyes and a busted nose; as if he had broken it numerous times. He had a beard and mustache and looked more like your everyday good buddy dad's-best friend-type. So he was the good cop.

The younger one, bad cop aka William Hardin had dark hair, dark buggy eyes and was slimmer and paler though he lived out here in the wild Wild West. He was silent most of the times whenever these two were over, but whenever he talked it sounded like he was the unpredictable intern that wouldn't obey orders and could snap one day with his gun.

I took McFadden's hand without saying anything.

"We're here to ask you some questions about your friend Isaac Clarke." I still didn't answer. "Please. Sit?" McFadden pointed to the group of couches with his whole hand, and I sat down on the couch opposite the officers. Charles and Daniella stood behind me. "When did you last see Isaac?" asked McFadden, and his assistant did some notes. "We understand that you were close friends."

"Yesterday morning." I lied. "His brother took him in his car somewhere by noon."

"His _older_ brother?"

"Aaron Clarke." I replied, still without looking at them.

"Did they mention anything about where they were going? Or what they were doing?"

"No."

McFadden seemed to disapprove of my answers, sighed and leaned forward. The leather in his black jacket cracked. "Where were you before you got home, Liam?"

"I was at my classmate's. We had a party last night." I wasn't afraid to admit to the police that I was drinking alcohol; getting fined for drinking as a minor is insignificant compared to the punishment that awaited me if I told them the truth.

"Party?" McFadden asked, and I nodded again. He interpreted my silence as if I were ashamed in front of my parents. "Have you talked to Isaac at all since you saw him yesterday morning? On the phone… or have you been texting each other?"

"No." I also leaned forward and looked McFadden straight in the eye; tired of the interrogation. "I haven't seen him nor talked to him since yesterday morning." I articulated the last sentence slowly.

The two police officers stood up as if on a command, thanked Daniella for the coffee and walked towards the front door looking straight forward like robots. They walked out and drove off with the police car that I had previously missed when I walked toward the house a few minutes earlier.

Had any outsiders been in the room with us they would have thought that the interrogation had been surprisingly brief and ended too abruptly; but me and everyone in my family were used to always getting away lightly.

Charles and Daniella sat down on the couch opposite me, where McFadden and his K9 had been sitting earlier, and moaned. "You know what happened... right?" Daniella said, voice trembling, trying not to cry. I shook my head.

"Don't lie to us!" Charles growled and banged his fist in the coffee table between us, but glanced at the window to the front where the police car was just leaving. He reached across the table and tore the cap off of my head. "What is that?!"

"Have you ever heard of punk rock?" I asked him grumpily.

Charles growled, walked up to me and tore me up in the collar. I towered several inches above him but his face was red and twisted with fury, and saliva spurred out of his mouth as he yelled at me. "_Two people are dead!_ Don't you understand!? What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he shook me and I just hung limp in his hands, turned my face away from him. "You're only sixteen years old and you- you-"

"They won't find out it was me-"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU AIN'T HAVE ANY FINGER PRINTS! Don't you get that they took advantage of you!? Those fucking- savage- criminals-"

"Stop!" Daniella cried from the couch.

Charles threw me away so that I stumbled backwards, but I didn't fall. "You're lucky this time, boy." he said threateningly through his teeth. "I got a job offer in Washington a few days ago. We're moving next week. End of discussion!"

…

I stayed in my bed the rest of that week. I think I slept, but... I don't really remember. One night I had heard Daniella and Charles discussing outside my bedroom door, as if they wanted to check on me but didn't know how to do it without me knowing, and decided to just stand outside my door instead. They told each other that it was best not to say anything to my brothers about what had happened; which I felt a little grateful for. The last thing I wanted right now was for my brothers to think I was a murderer. I wasn't a murderer… at least not on purpose.

I think. Sigh… I don't know anything about myself anymore.

…

On Thursday morning, Daniella packed my brothers into the back seat of her car while the movers packed the last furniture in the truck. Everything had gone so fast and the house was empty within a few days. I stood on the porch and looked out over the landscape, felt the heat of the sun, smelled the sand, felt a cool breeze sweep over my face. I was going to miss this.

"Are you coming?" asked Daniella from the car.

Charles who saw the rebel in me starting to churn behind my eyes walked towards me with determined steps. "_Get_."

"I'm not going." I said firmly, but back then I didn't know why I wanted to stay.

"You ain't staying here."

"I'm not going with you." I glared at him, calmly watched as his facial muscles slowly relax. It looked like he was going to leave me alone, and at first I thought so, but-

Without any kind of warning, Charles grabbed the lower part of my face tightly with one hand, pushed me up against the wall of the house and pinned me to it, still with a tight grip on my chin. "Don't you dare mess with me, boy!" he wailed threateningly with his face a few inches from mine. "You can do that on the cops, but you know it ain't working on me anymore. Get… into… the car!" His red cheeks trembled. I was almost worried about his health; he seemed to have aged twice as fast as one would do in nine years.

I followed him down the driveway and hopped into the car with Daniella and my brothers.

_August 18, 2008 (one month later) _

Already on the first day in Townsville High School, I was getting the unwished attention because of my size. "Hey! Texas!" I turned away from my locker that I had been assigned, and stood face to face with a tall, colored guy. "Liam Berger, was it?"

"Who's asking?" I replied.

The guy reached out his hand. "Sorry, it was the school mascot; Jake Green; who told me about you. He'd noticed your height when you entered the school area this morning. My name is Brandon Smith and I'm the captain of the basketball team." I shook his hand. "You're tall." he noted. "We are going to have tryouts at six o'clock tonight in the gym. Be there."

"Okay, thanks." I mumbled.

I watched Brandon Smith walk away and meet up with his friends at the end of the corridor, one second later a voice behind me startled me.

"Basketball? You?"

"Fucking hell, Luke!" I banged my locker shut. That invisible creep had been hiding from us. "Yeah, what's with that?"

"I thought you would apply for the football team on this school, like I did." Luke leaned on the lockers next to mine.

"They already have a left tackle; I saw him – he was pretty big."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You _know_ you could do a better job than _him_."

"Doesn't matter. I wanna try something new this year."

"Shit! Incoming!"

"What?" I looked behind me.

No other than those three little bitches stood there – The Powerpuff girls.

The one with pink eyes and ginger hair; Blossom; stared at me with her backpack pressed against her chest. Hugging it with finger nails clawing it.

The one with blue eyes and blond hair; Bubbles; had her hands on top of her mouth and shoulders pulled to her ears.

And lastly the one with green eyes and black hair; Buttercup; swooshed in after a few seconds as the other two had summoned her when they noticed me. Her eyebrows dropped and her upper lip curled over her teeth; she looked more like an angry dog than anything.

All grown up. Or at least older than they were the first time I met them. Of course I've seen them on TV and in newspapers; but it still felt pretty unrealistic to see them up close like this. They had changed so much over the years, but they were still the same.

And was Buttercup actually… hot?

"Uh, Luke…" I whispered.

"They can't see me, man. You're on your own." I heard his voice fading away as he was backing away from me in the corridor.

"Thanks, _bro_."

"Excuse me, ehm…" the pink-eyed one asked me. "Do we know you?"

"Do we _know_ him?! Are you _blind_?!" the green-eyed girl shouted, pointing at me with her whole hand. "That's _Butch_, Betty!" she turned to me. "_Hey_! Scumbag; what do you think you're doing here?!"

"Don't!" the blue-eyed shrieked and grabbed Buttercups hand as she was about to fly over to me. "What if he has his powers?"

_They_ were afraid of _me_?

"No, this can't be happening…" Blossom, or apparently Betty said. "The Principal told me three new students were coming to school this year, three _brothers_. But she never mentioned they were _triplets_." She looked directly at me. "Did you change your names to Luke, Liam and Leo Berger when you moved from Washington ten years ago?"

"Uhh…" I nodded, didn't know what else to say or do.

"Which one are you?" she demanded to know.

"I'm Liam…" this was insane, trying to be polite to these three girls. But at the same time I knew I couldn't pick a fight with them. "Brick is Luke and Boomer is Leo."

"And you're still powerless?"

"Yes." I had to strain myself from smiling; we had known for years now that the Antidote was wearing off and our powers were on their way back.

"Why do you talk like that?" Now Bubbles started asking me questions.

"We grew up in Texas."

"Why are you here?" she kept asking.

Betty seemed to have a short leash on Buttercup, since she didn't try to interrupt her sister's questions; or she was just engulfed in this moment.

"We, uh, moved here last month. My adoptive dad had a job offer here."

"Where?" Buttercup asked, she sounded angry.

"ASPEC."

"The same lab Professor works in from time to time? What a coincidence, huh, guys?" Buttercup rolled up the sleeves on her shirt.

"Oh, there you are, Mr. Berger!" principal Williams walked towards us in the corridor. "I see you have met Beatrice, Rebecca and Brooke Utonium already? Girls; this is one of the boys I talked to you about this morning. Luke, was it?"

"No, I'm Liam." Someone; get me out of here!

"I'm so sorry, Liam."

"Principal Williams." Blossom, or Betty, or Beatrice flew up to her, and got closer to me. "We need to talk to you in private. Immediately."

"Of course, Beatrice. My office? Nice to meet you again, Liam."

"Yeah, sure." I mumbled.

The three girls followed the principal down the corridor. Before they walked around the corner Buttercup, or Brooke, turned back to me, pointed to her eyes and then at me, as to tell me that she was keeping an eye on me.

Scary.

But after the meeting with the principal they never really bothered me or my brothers again. She must've convinced them that we were normal and harmless…

…

Fifteen minutes to six that same day I was standing in the illuminated gym with basketball markings on the fake wood floor. I started to wonder if this was really such a good idea; but at the same time I wanted to get as many diversions as possible. I tried really hard to be normal now that I got a second… and third… chance at life. I wasn't going to fuck this up again.

I just remembered that I had forgotten to spit out my chewing gum before entering the building. I discreetly tried to roll it out of my mouth with my tongue, and just dropped it on the floor by my feet. I was hoping no one had seen it.

"Welcome. My name is Brandon Smith and I'm the captain of the Townsville High Supermen. We…" he pointed at himself and five other tall guys. "... will judge you for how you throw the ball, dribble, pass and score. Do not disappoint me. Why don't you start, Berger?" It seemed as if Brandon liked me most because I was the tallest one there; even taller than those already in the team. He beckoned to me and I walked up to him. "Have you played basketball before?" he asked me.

"No, I played football back in Texas."

He gave me a surprised look. "Really? But you're so tall... Don't tell the football team - you're a basketball player, Texas. Well, stand here; this is where the Shooting Guard is positioned." he tossed the ball to me and backed off. "Get the ball through the hoop."

I shrugged and threw the ball towards the basket without moving the rest of my body an inch. The ball easily slid through the hoop.

"Three points." Brandon said gleefully. His friend picked up the ball and threw it back to me. "Do it again." I did the exact same thing and the ball ended up in the basket. "You'd be a good Shooting Guard… But since you are so tall you would be better suited as a center. Come on, let's make a fake practice."

Brandon and his team ran around the track trying to stop me; they jumped for the ball; blocked me and did everything to prevent me from scoring goals. But I surprised them every time - I didn't miss a single ball.

"Aside from not knowing the rules properly, I have no complaints at all. Right, guys?" said Brandon after five minutes. The others agreed. "We'll just test the others and then we'll come back to you." Half an hour later everyone had been tried, and as they all left Brandon walked up to me where I sat on the bench - he had already decided. "You made the team, Berger. Congratulations. And you say you've never played before?"

"Not once." I said with a smile. "So what position did I make?"

"Oh, gosh... you were flawless in all of them, actually..." sighed Brandon, trying to decide on something. "But we're in need of a good Center; so you'll have to take that. But, hey, that's the most important position." he turned to another player. "Seems like you're switching to the Shooting Guard tomorrow, Hayden." he grinned at Hayden who half-heartedly answered his comment by rolling his eyes.

"Center?" I asked and began to feel a little embarrassed that I had taken Hayden's position. "Ain't it the one closest to the hoop? Defense?" I had never played defense before.

"Right. The first practice is tomorrow at five o'clock. We practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, at five o'clock sharp. We try to squeeze in some extra hours at my house when everyone is free. You'll get your uniform tomorrow. Do not be late." Brandon winked at me and started walking towards the doors.

"Townsville High _Supermen_, was it?" I asked him.

"Yes?" he stopped, but the rest of the team continued toward the locker room.

"Doesn't that sound a little... silly?"

"We live in Townsville, Berger - the home of the Powerpuff girls. Obviously it should be 'Supermen'."

"Who decides on name change?"

"The team captain, of course."

"How do I become a team captain?"

Brandon chuckled, walked up to me and stopped. "You're challenging me?"

I cringed; I recognized this far too well. "No." I answered quickly, wanted to avoid trouble. I tried to get away from that. For... for Cricket. I need to shape up; if I can't even learn from my mistakes his death would be in vain.

"If you want to become the team captain I have to leave school first. But since we're the same year, it can be difficult. I'll be captain until I graduate, but if you take this year twice, maybe..." he eyed me from my feet up. "Don't be late on your first day, Texas." Brandon turned around and walked toward the locker rooms where his team had already disappeared.

He stopped right outside the door and leaned against the wall with one hand, moving the other toward his foot as he lifted it up. He peeled something from under his shoe and pulled it away. It was my gum. He had stepped in my gum.

I saw a person in the corner of my eye and quickly turned to my left with a quiet gasp. My heart was banging as I pictured myself standing face to face with a pair of brown eyes and that one smile I knew I would never see again… but there was no one there.

I looked back at Brandon again as he threw my gum down the trash can next to the locker room door. He opened the door while mumbling something that sounded like '_maybe should have gone for the football team instead_'.

When the door closed behind him I glanced to my left again and sighed. He wasn't there.

I knew this wouldn't end well. I needed to do something.

…

That night I broke into school, opened Brandon's locker and put a plastic bag on the top shelf between an worn out school book and a pair of old basketball shoes - a plastic bag full of crystals I had bought a week ago (old habits) and tried to get rid of. Finally I could leave them behind and never look back.

The next morning the police were called to school. Police cars were parked in the parking lot when my brothers and I rolled in with Leo's new white Skoda that Charles had bought for him so we could all get to and from school. Of course, it was Leo who got the car - the cars Luke and I had inherited were sold the day after.

"What now?" sighed Leo and looked up at the school which flashed in red and blue.

"Did they call the police to keep an eye on us?" asked Luke. "I told you they would exaggerate when they saw us here again!"

"Don't worry, brothers." I said from the back seat. "It's probably just a misunderstanding." I got out of the car and started walking towards the school.

…

At five o'clock the same day, sharp, I was standing in the gym with the five students who had been there on the tryouts the night before; those who hadn't been given a chance because I had been selected to the team. "As you may have all heard already; Brandon Smith had to leave the team because of... unfortunate circumstances..."

"They found methamphetamine in his locker this morning." sighed one of the guys already in the team. "I knew it would end like this; that guy's insane."

Lucky me he already had a drug problem; I knew that from looking at his teeth as he was talking last night. Meth mouth; the same disgusting mouth that Aaron had. Diablo and his gang had all looked like that and it was hard to miss it. "We shouldn't judge him too hard..." I smiled mockingly. "But because of the methamphetamine that police found in Brandon's locker this morning we had to appoint a new captain for the team."

"We chose new guy." said another guy from the team that I remembered was called Jonah. "You're actually our best player since Christopher Snyder left last year; at least from what we saw of you yesterday."

"Thanks." I said and smiled at him. "And because we are one man short we need to have another tryout. Before we try you again I just want to inform my team about some... changes I wanted to make. As the first change as Captain, I plan to switch positions - I want to be Shooting Guard." I looked at my teammates who didn't say anything to me. "Seems like you get to keep your position as Center, Hayden. And I would also like to change our name."

"Rename the team? But we've always been called Townsville Supermen!" complained a guy with blond hair.

"I know, but you have to agree with me that it sounds pretty ridiculous?" I said, and the others just shrugged and agreed. "Good... From this day we will be called Townsville High _Mohawks_, and anyone who oppose will be immediately sacked from the team." Even though I smiled at my team, they couldn't mistake of the glowing truth in my eyes.

I had started this school two days ago and I was already the chief.

_February, 2011 (present day)_

The sand was swirling around my feet as I landed about twenty miles from my old residential neighborhood in Fort Davis; the trailer park in the Jumano reservation. Now I finally understood my reluctance to move to Washington; it wasn't because of the risk of ending up in Townsville again when Charles had mentioned the state - it was because I had unfinished businesses left here in Texas. It was the promise I had made to Isaac before I got into the car over two years ago; the promise that I didn't really know what it had meant.

But now I knew.

The trailers stood dark and silent, except the one closest to me; from inside I heard muffled voices and a television on in the background. A chained mutt slept on the ground outside a trailer in the caravan area; which also looked completely untouched since I left it that same night. The dog; who was a large and black Rottweiler mix; neither heard me nor felt my scent, I could stand only a couple feet from it without it reacting. I squatted in front of it, reached out and waved my hand in front of the dog's nose. He didn't wake up. I tugged at the dog's chain. He got up and started to frantically bark out in the night.

"Someone's out there!" I heard a man hiss from inside. The door to the trailer opened and he looked out, but he saw nothing, and he didn't see me.

There he stood in only jeans and looked sicker than ever; Aaron Clarke, also known as Diablo - Mohawk chieftain.

I slowly hovered in front of him as I intensively analyzed each and every one of them premature wrinkles his grey face. I was disgusted by what I saw; he was only twenty-four years old but looked to be at least forty. His thin hair was shiny from either grease or hair gel; his protruding eyes were red-shot, and his body was far too skinny for his height.

I landed behind him, locked him in a police grip with his arms behind his back and my right arm around his neck. He drew a surprised breath and began to mumble in mixed Spanish and his native language about skinwalkers and demons. Please...

I whispered into his ear: "Are you alone?"

He froze as he instantly recognized my voice. "L-L-L-" he stammered.

"Sshhh..." a smile tore up my face. "Yes, it's me. I'm probably a little nicer than a skinwalker, right? But answer my question please. Are you alone?"

"N-no..." he started shaking throughout his body and his breath reeked of alcohol. "H-Hitch and Ax is in there."

"What happens behind your back stays behind your back. Ain't that what you once said, Aaron?" I asked, scoffed and tightened my grip around his neck. "Do you know who I am?"

"Demonio- I mean L- I mean-"

I chuckled; this was so much fun. "My name is Liam Berger, but I had it changed when I was seven years old. Before that my name was Butch, see, and I was quite powerful." Aaron stopped breathing for a second, tried to understand what I was talking about. "Recognize the name? I was pretty well-known back then. My two brothers and I had our own little gang – Rowdyruff boys – have you heard of us?"

"R-rowdy- are you one of the-"

"One of the rascals that almost killed the Powerpuff girls? Yes. I'm one of them. But that scientist forced us to take Antidote X which took my powers away, and they sent us here to a doctor and his wife who adopted us. They wanted us to have a normal life like normal boys… and then I met you… but I took my powers back. I'm finally back. And after I'm done with you, Aaron, I will take my revenge on them." I squeezed him a little harder, making it harder for him to breathe while I smiled and closed my eyes. I was so enjoying this. "Do you know why I'm here?" I breathed, still smiling, still with closed eyes. He shook his head; at least tried to shake it. "I'm here for Cricket. Do you remember him?"

"P-p-please-"

"You let your own brother die, Aaron. Or excuse me, I mean... _Diablo_." I scoffed. "There's so much we have to talk about... I have so many questions for you, but... there's one thing I can say as a comfort; and that is that this ain't personal. Please, don't think that I'm doing this for me; I'm doing this for Isaac." Isaac's name made Aaron shake even more fiercely. "You were his older brother, and after your parents died your only job was to protect him. You sent him on a suicide mission. You knew that man had a rifle, didn't you?" it sounded like he was going to vomit at any moment. "That's why you didn't dare do it yourself. You sacrificed your own brother, Aaron."

"I-I didn't know- Please-"

"That day; outside the gas station, you gave me a very specific assignment, remember?" his body shook worse than ever between my arms. "You said that Cricket could hang with us on one condition; and that was if I took responsibility for him. Do you know what that makes me? That's right; I became his brother that day, and I'm convinced you're smart, and hopefully sober, enough to understand why I'm here... I like my life too much to commit _haraquiri_. Goodbye, Aaron Clarke."

With a neck breaking speed (literally), I flew with Aaron, holding him tightly under his arms, and a second later; when it felt like his body would explode underneath me; I stopped and dropped him on the ground out in the desert. Or... it wasn't _him_ anymore, now it was just a distorted and limp, unrecognizable body lying on the ground below me.

I landed to inspect the remains of Aaron Clarke up close; his eyes has popped out from their sockets; his greyish-brown skin looked to have stretched across the scull in his face; his upper body down to the waist was compressed, and the stomach looked unnaturally large and swollen.

So that's what it looks like when a human being has been traveling at a far too high a speed?

"Goodbye, Diablo; Chieftain of Mohawks... hm... I guess this makes me the rightful chief now, huh? I should've killed you a long time ago…" I crouched down and leaned over his body, tried to hear the heartbeat. But it was completely silent. "Your heart's probably down here somewhere..." I said, tapping the hard bulge on his stomach. "... along with the rest of your intestines."

Something white was poking out from the front pocket his jeans; a package of some sort that i recognized fairly. I sighed. One of those exhausted sighs when you know there is no going back from memory lane.

I pulled out the package from his pocket, closed my eyes for a bit before looking at it, and felt the sadness overwhelm me. It was the same kind of gum that cricket always chewed; must be something (the only thing) the Clarke brother's had in common. I took one gum out of the package, unwrapped it and put it in my mouth. I started chewing it, and it tasted just like I remembered it.

I don't know if it was because of me being back here in fort Davis, or the unilateral conversation with Aaron again or that I was in fact chewing the closest thing I had to be reminded of Cricket; but one of those things, or all of them, made me see a literal ghost from my past.

"I knew it was you all along." I said with a chuckle and shook my head.

Isaac Clarke, in the flesh, stood on the other side of his dead brother's body out here in the desert and smiled at me. That smile. "Thank you. I mean, for this." he pointed at the body at his feet. "For avenging me."

"I promised you, didn't I?" I replied, but started to panic a little; not that i was seeing him again so clearly, but I was afraid that he was going to leave me. "How's it like to die?"

He bit his lip. "I'm not gonna lie to you, L; it fricking hurts." he laughed. "But when you get used to its like it never happened."

"Do you have somewhere to go?"

"Nah, I can hang out for a little bit, I guess."

"Why now? Why didn't you show yourself earlier? I mean-"

I always knew someone was inside my head with me, and while other people would think that they had lost their minds at this moment; _this_ was when I finally understood that i wasn't insane. I wasn't schizophrenic; Cricket had followed me around all these years, waiting for me to avenge him. It must have something to do with the tribes around the reservation and some kind of magic I had no right to try and understand.

"I was waiting for the right moment, my brother." Cricket simply said.

"Is it hard for you to be around?"

He shrugged. "Not harder than leaving."

"Then stay." I tilted my head to the side. "Is that even possible?"

This time that wide smile spread all over Isaac's face, even his eyes were glowing. "I just wanted you to ask. I'm not going anywhere, L-I am."

I laughed, took out the photograph from the inside pocket of the jacket that once had belonged to Diablo. I looked at the picture. There were three people in the photo, but I folded it once and ripped it off, saving the piece of the only person I cared about. Her dubious smile and bright green eyes made my smile fade in seconds.

"Why are you saving that photo?" I heard Cricket ask, but it sounded like I was thinking it. So this is how he was going to stay around?

I put the photo in my pocket again, kicked off the ground and left the Jumano reservation, never returning again. I was done here.


	11. Chapter 10 - Another heat wave

**Another heat wave**

**Bubbles**  
While Leo sat on the private jet with George and Eugene, I flew around it to keep watch in the air, and after six hours we landed at Charleston International Airport. Leo almost ran through the airport, and called for a taxi right after he got out of the building. The only reason he didn't pick up our sons and flew with them was because Professor was a bit skeptical to it, he didn't know if their little bodies would react like human bodies or supers; like us - risking it was out of the question.

I kept an eye and an ear on Leo at all times as I followed him around the airport and outside of it. The reason we couldn't be seen in public together was because it was secret that he had super powers, and that we had children together. Now he only looked like a young dad in a hurry with his two children. Now was the worst possible time to draw _any_ attention to us and our family. Betty was staying at Grandma's to protect her until Leo and I arrived, and Brooke stayed in Forestville.

Grandma had said that it was a little strange that Leo, the twins and I were visiting her, considering that she had celebrated Christmas and New Years with us only one week earlier. My explanation was that we needed to get away from all the snow; and she understood completely without questioning me again.

Brooke had apparently suffered a '_minor'_ mental breakdown when she found out that Liam had been at Grandma's. Of course _I_ wouldn't call it minor; she had been nonresponsive for crying out loud! Grandma had been worried out of her mind, but Betty came up with a story that Brooke had been training her cheerleader squad day and night and was just exhausted.

Poor Brooke... I had warned her about this. Why can't she just admit to herself that she is miserable, and open up to us so that we can help her? We already know how she must feel and what she is going through; all we want is for her to realize that herself and start to process everything. We knew she wasn't _only_ furious; of course she also missed him…

I feel sick to my stomach whenever I realize that she must still love him... After all he had done… feelings don't just go away.

Poor Brooke.

But there is still chance – we can still turn this around and make Liam good again; just like we did with Luke.

After two months everything had once again turned upside down, and I felt the stress start to wear on me again. This really can't be healthy for anyone.

When we arrived at Grandma's, Betty flew back to Forestville, and Leo and I was going to stay here to keep guard until Professor could get her to our house. "So… What do we do about school?" whispered Leo later that night as we put George and Eugene into their cribs. He was taking the first guard.

I tiredly shook my head and shrugged.

**Blossom**  
It was now two days ago since Liam stopped by to "say hi" to Grandma and steal a photo of my sisters and me. Professor was nagging me every hour to go and help Luke walk. Maybe his nagging was due to anxiety - which was even worse now as even his mother was _on_ the radar. He wanted to get her to Forestville but didn't know how to do that without telling her why. It was only early January and there was no holiday to celebrate yet for a while. I asked him why we couldn't just tell her the truth already; this was more important than trying to keep things secret from her.

Then he looked me dead in the eye and said: "Is it more important than my mother's weak heart?" My dad was not himself anymore.

He was scared.

I had never seen him like this before. Not like this.

Speaking of holidays; Brooke, Leo, and I were once again off the hook when it came to our responsibilities as high school students. The principal and school management were now officially suspicious but had been given strict orders not to talk about our absence to anyone who had nothing to do with the matter. But what prevented people from gossiping?

And this semester I was going to start applying to colleges and universities… but I guess that'll wait for another day. If ever…

…

In the afternoon I had Luke's arm around my neck as I led him across his bedroom. So far he had been able to move his toes and both feet quite properly and could take several slow steps, but not without support.

"So it wasn't broken, after all?" he asked me and swung back and forth as I released him, but I grabbed hold of him before he started falling. "Ugh- Just some nerves that were cramped?"

"It seems so, and that was lucky." I said and started to release Luke little by little again.

"Yeah." he agreed, standing still for a whole second after I had completely let go of him but began to collapse as he tried to move his legs. I grabbed him and we started over.

Nowadays, we practiced literally every wake minute of the day except for when I was keeping watch; but that's when Daniella, Irene, or Professor shipped in for me. Luke didn't let Charles set foot inside his bedroom and he refused to tell me why.

Ever since Luke woke up from the coma he had talked to Charles only once that I knew of; the rest of the time they had completely ignored each other and had succeeded in doing so without any attention at all until lately. No one asked them about it, though, and frankly I was afraid of both of their reasons; I knew I would be having a verbal fight with Charles if he was angry with Luke still after so many months; while I would be even angrier at him if Luke told me why Charles deserved Luke's quiet treatment. What on earth could Charles had done to him? I know Luke wouldn't be the one to blame…

Right?

Luke had started doing his regular workout that he did before the forest incident. Have I mentioned the time I ran into him on that jogging track over a year ago? Back then we weren't even close to being friends, but that was when I realized Luke also used those tracks to exercise. Of course he couldn't go back _entirely_ to normal; but he could at least work on his upper body again, especially his arms and back. He had begun to regain his normal size after losing weight due to being paralyzed, and I couldn't help shuddering every time we touched each other. His arms were getting bigger and harder every week, which also made him seem more confident.

The wounds from breaking up with Dainton were still fresh. Of course. But ever since I told Luke those news on Christmas Eve two weeks ago it was like we had pressed the pause button together. Now we both knew where we had each other and Luke understood that he had to wait for me; wait for me to get ready.

The knowledge hadn't made us more accustomed to each other, though; on the contrary it had made us shy again; as if reality had caught up with us. Both knew, but we couldn't do anything but wait - and that excitement was worse than anything to date.

Not a second passed by without me wanting to throw myself over him… This new feeling - nay, urge - I constantly felt for him was overwhelming but felt at the same time natural. It was like this burning passion; churning inside me and I had to _really_ force myself to distract myself from Luke's dark red eyes, and his dark, thick eyebrows, and his auburn hair, his manly scent and - god his smile! Do i have to say more about it? - and his growing muscles, and dark an mysterious overall looks… What was i talking about?

After catching him for the fifth time this afternoon, he slowly spun around to face me, and we just stared at each other for a few intensely intimate seconds. His eyes were just a few inches above mine, his lips too which I accidentally glanced at. I was still holding his arms but he shook my hands off of them and took one very decisive step closer to me and stopped. I made a small hiccup noise that surprised us both, and when I thought he was about to kiss me…

He swallowed his saliva with a rather tormented facial expression with shiny eyes and took another step backwards, and I caught him again before he started falling. "You were doing great on your own this time." I mumbled; face blushing and I knew I couldn't look into his eyes again so I just looked down.

"Up to now." Luke corrected me. "But from now on I need you around." he tilted his head, forced me to look at him. He smiled that damned smile with dimples on the left side; the right side of his mouth was still pointing downwards because of the scar. "Thank you, for giving me a second chance."

I took a trembling breath to calm myself down; my heart was banging into the inside of my ribcage. I smiled while I looked at him, and we both kind of nodded to each other.

**Professor**  
It was time. Time to tell everyone about the plans Irene, Charles, and I had been molding and shaping since before Christmas. There was no longer any reason left to keep it secret, given the new circumstances. While Becca and Leo protected my mother in South Carolina, Betty and Brooke stayed here, and would it continue like this all four of them would be so exhausted Liam would finally find that weak opening he's been looking for.

It had already begun, what Brooke had warned us about; the cat-and-rat game. He wanted to split Betty, Becca, Brooke and Leo so that the defense would get weaker and weaker, eventually everyone would be in different places in the world and he would- I didn't even want to imagine the worst case scenario… and what the aftermath of that would be.

Simultaneously I worried about something much closer to home - apart from the obvious threat Liam posed; Irene behaved more strangely every day and withdrew more and more. I don't know if she did that on purpose or if she was just absentminded, but I sincerely hoped it was good news. But how could it be considering her behavior?

It was the hand caressing her stomach the other day that constantly popped up in mind… This wasn't happening. Please, God… Not now.

**Brick**  
Later that night, just as I was getting ready for dinner, someone knocked on my door and I told them to come in. It was Charles who opened the door and I immediately regretted my courtesy; I'd thought it was Professor, Irene or Daniella - _anyone_ but Charles.

"Oh..." I said before letting my eyebrows drop contemptuously; this day had started out so nicely, but I was about to reach the edge of my patience already.

"Can I come in?" Charles asked, poking in his head through the door.

I didn't answer, but glared at him with a stiff frown while he stepped in and closed the door behind him. He sighed, walked over to my bed without looking at me, and stopped just before he reached the chair next to my bed.

He took a breath to say something but I interrupted him. "Well spit it out, then, I ain't have all night."

Charles cleared his throat and seemed to rush his thoughts a bit. "I understand you're angry with me." I waited while he sighed a second time. "I wish I had handled things differently."

"Who made you come up here and talk to me?"

It had been over two months since I woke up from the coma and discovered that I couldn't move nearly seventy percent of my body; and Charles had pretended that I didn't even exist. Well, he had patched me up and kept me alive for a week, but after that it was as if I had been a dying dog that recovered from a surgery and was waiting to go home with my owners.

He had always been like that, ever since I was a child, and I wasn't surprised that his father's instincts hadn't improved over the years. But how could they? He wasn't a _real _father.

"As I said; I should have made a bigger effort."

"Pfft! A bigger what now?" I snorted. "It was Daniella, right? You were just tired of her nagging."

"Alright, but you have to understand, Luke-"

"What the hell do you think is gonna happen? That; after you apologize for being a lousy dad; I'll just throw myself in your arms and cry and then we're a big happy family?"

"I had hoped we could solve this between us, once and for all, before it's too late." said Charles, who himself began to lose his temper. Soon he would show his true colors again - the Charles I know and love.

"Before it's too late; as in your son is going to kill us all?"

"Damn straight, boy! That is exactly what I mean." Charles murmured.

"So that was what was needed for you to straighten up? One of your favorite sons had to lose his mind and try to kill the family you're left with?"

"What do you mean?" Charles asked stupidly, but he knew exactly what I meant and it just made me even more pissed.

"Don't play dumb, _Charlie_! You always hated my guts, ever since we were little! I behaved just like any boy at that age but instead of acting like a dad you disowned me! You didn't even realize I changed after a few months; you didn't _want_ to see it. You were too busy favoriting the one perfect son, and chasing the other one around the neighborhood; begging him to love you. You were so busy doing that you didn't notice that I was trying to better myself."

Charles rolled his eyes and sighed - not in a way to downplay me, but in a way that he finally understood why we had been fighting all these years; like he hadn't even seen it from my perspective before. "Hey..." he said calmly, looking into my eyes. "I am deeply sorry for how I treated you... it hasn't been fair. _I _haven't been fair. And you're right; I didn't realize you were getting better. I was too busy with the other two... With what happened over there in Fort Davis... Liam... You remember how it was, right? The cops were at our house every other day about the bullshit Liam caused wherever he went. And Leo was his polar opposite; he did everything right, he was perfect at home and got perfect grades. It hurts me when I think about how I treated you... you were that middle child who never got any acknowledgement for the good things you did; so you started acting out again only to get our attention. Or more specifically _my_ attention." Charles shook his head, looking down on the floor and sighed. "I was never home; spent eighty percent of my life on that hospital; and when I finally came home I found the house in ruins, and with Leo on his room doing his homework and Liam somewhere _who the hell knows where_; you were the only one around…" he cringed, looked like he had a bad stomach ache, and groaned. "And I think I might've used you as a punching bag because I was stressed from work… Can you ever forgive me, Luke?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "Yeah, sure. No problem." I said with raised eyebrows, totally surprised.

A few minutes ago I had been mocking the cheer thought of Charles apologizing to me; I laughed at the picture that I wasn't going to forgive him in a million years anyway. Now he was actually standing before me, in the flesh, _apologizing_. I would never, _in a million years_, have believed he was going to, and it surprised me.

And now it felt like I had been exaggerating everything instead; as if I had been a stupid teenager all this time; _thirsting_ for the attention of my adoptive father… That _was_ the truth, but it was also really confusing now that _I_ finally understood why we had been fighting all these years. We hadn't even fought remotely as much and as physical as him and Liam did whenever they flew at each other, but Charles had at the same time treated him like a real son…

Was this why I could turn invisible? Because I've been _feeling_ invisible growing up?

"And you are right; I can't defend what I've done." Charles said. "I have no excuses for the way I was behaving towards you." he looked down at his feet and I still couldn't believe my ears. "I hope we can make up for real one day, Luke. You are still my son and I would do anything for you. From now on I will improve as your father; I will not favorite anyone ever again. You boys are equally important to me…" he hesitated, but stopped talking; couldn't say that last '_at least two of you_', but I knew that was what he was thinking.

Though I already knew that he had liked my brothers better growing up it still felt like a blow to my stomach as he confessed his mistakes. I just nodded, didn't really know what to say.

"And sorry for giving you the shot with Antidote X; I ain't gonna do something like that to you again without asking. I trust you, kid."

"Thanks." I breathed, hoping he would be finished soon so that this awkward moment could be over. But it felt nice that we had this talk…

As if he was reading my mind, he took a step forward to put his hand on my shoulder and said; "I'll get someone to help you down the stairs. We're having a meeting and it will be about you."

"About me?" I asked with wrinkled forehead.

"You could do _something_ to be useful around here." Charles winked and left the bedroom.

**Professor**  
The private jet that my mom would use to come here was booked (she had agreed coming here without asking any questions), and Betty and Brooke agreed to come inside for a minute to hear what I had to say. We had a dinner meeting again but without Becca and Leo.

We all sat down at the dining table; Irene, Charles, Daniella, Betty, Brooke, Luke, and I; and I thought it was better to just start straight away; no easing into it. "Luke, you can walk now, right?"

"A little bit." he replied curiously with his red eyes anxiously attached to me. He glanced at Betty, who was sitting next to him.

"Good. We have come to the conclusion that we need more help. We're going to need more supers." I paused for a moment to let the words sink in.

"You mean…?" Betty asked without finishing the sentence.

"That's right." I just said. "I'm giving Luke Chemical X."

"Are you serious?" Brooke spat out.

"It is _needed_, and we trust-"

She interrupted Charles. "Isn't it enough with _one_ former rowdyruff running amok? Do we really need _two_?"

"I won't—" Luke started, insulted.

"Stay out of this!" she hissed. "Professor, you have to be kidding me!" she said, looking at me seriously. "I am already busting my ass here!"

I closed my eyes in exhaustion, drew a deep breath and put my hand on my pocket where the last bottle of Chemical X was. I knew she was going to protest and I wish I had prepared more mentally on her outburst.

"So you're not kidding?" asked Brooke. She stepped back and forth between the kitchen and the hallway. "I can't believe this! Do you _think_-"

"We have already _thought_!" I shouted and opened my eyes to look at her. Brooke stopped and everyone's eyes turned to me - my family wasn't used to me raising my voice. "We _have_ been thinking a lot here, Brooke, how can you not understand that this is exactly what _our_ job in all this has been? It is _me_, _Irene,_ and _Charles_ who are the brains behind this whole disaster - we are the ones _thinking_! All _you_ have to do is to follow orders!"

Brooke's face turned pale as she looked at me grumpily before answering; "Okay. Fine. Make a super villain out of him. Don't let _me_ stand in your way!" She turned around and disappeared out the back door.

"Betty, help Luke down to the lab." I said expressionlessly. I just wanted to put an end to this.

**Brick**  
"Wait- right now?" I almost stammered.

"Right now." replied Professor Utonium with a voice that said he wasn't open for a discussion.

"Wait a minute, dad." Betty asked, turning to me. "Do you want to do this, Luke? You know you still have a choice. We cannot force you to fight on our side with powers and also against your brother; it's all up to you."

My eyes narrowed at her question but I couldn't really figure out what she was asking. I glanced at Charles, who nodded almost imperceptibly with a serious face. Was everything up to me now? Did everyone's fate lie in my hands? Was it _I_ who decided now if we were to win or lose? Was this my time to prove - once and for all - that I had changed? That I was one of the good guys?

And how could I say no to getting my powers back and help them kick my psychopathic brother's ass?

"No doubt." I said. "I'm ready."

"Okay." Betty gave me a quick smile before she lifted me from the wheelchair - which I would never have to sit in again - and flew down the stairs with me. Professor, Irene, Charles and Daniella followed us down.

Betty put me down on a chair in the middle of the room as Professor walked toward us from the stairs. "Can you stand up, Luke?"

With some difficulty I began to stand up. "No, wait..." I told Betty who walked closer to me. I stood up completely and almost started to sweat from the effort.

"Take a step." Professor ordered me. He was scary when he was serious.

I looked at Betty again as she looked back at me, but none of us said anything. It felt a little like I was standing on that illuminated stage again where the audience expected me to start dancing and clapping my hands like some kind of show animal. I took an uncertain step forward and felt how I was starting to sway; Betty was about to help me again, but Professor stopped her by raising his hand. I took another unsteady step.

"Thanks, Luke, that's enough. Here." Professor handed me the small bottle with a black liquid inside, and I received it as I stumbled back and sat down on the chair again.

"How do I…?"

"Whichever way you feel comfortable with. But I advise you to pour it on your skin; it probably doesn't taste as good as it looks." replied Professor with just a hint of something reminding of humor.

I remembered the strange taste of iron from last time; it felt like I had an electric shock in my entire mouth, almost like I had licked a tazer (which was something I had actually done when I was younger. But CX had felt much, much worse). I wondered why Professor advised me not to drink it; had he tasted it before and knew it tasted bad or did it have a different meaning? They couldn't possibly trick me again. Right?

With one last glance at Betty I opened the cork on the bottle, drew a deep breath and poured the contents onto my left arm. The liquid slowly ran out of the bottle and my skin absorbed everything as if it was nothing. It felt cold but stung as if it were glowing hot on my skin. After a few seconds the sting and heat spread to my chest and stomach, to my right arm, face, legs, feet, toes, fingertips... I exploded and a thick and sparkling cloud of white smoke surrounded me. It felt like every vein and cell in my body expanded and exploded; and it _really_ didn't feel like I would get out of that blow stronger than before.

The explosion made me fall forward and I landed on the cold, shiny floor on my knees and hands, and groaned - not out of pain but out of surprise; I had forgotten what an overwhelming feeling this was. I was probably too angry and excited last time to put this experience to memory.

A couple of hands grabbed my arm the same exact second my knees touched the floor. "Luke?" Betty asked nervously. "Are you okay?"

"Get up, Luke." said Professor a little commanding again. He sounded impatient but also vigilant; keeping distance, letting Betty be the closest person to me.

With Betty's help - which I didn't really need - I stood up again and gained balance. I didn't sway and I wasn't weak in my legs anymore. I took a trying step forward and then another one. The power of Chemical X flowed through my muscles as I tightened them, and my whole body felt way too light. Everything around me suddenly felt very, very fragile.

"Absolutely incredible..." I breathed breathlessly.

"How does it feel?" asked Betty.

"I can walk."

My eyes were tearing up - I could walk again! I had been paralyzed from my waist down for just over two months, so of course it was an absolutely amazing feeling to be able to use my legs again! Finally, no one would have to take care of me and help me all the time.

I walked back and forth between Betty and the desk until I eventually formed a circle, walked faster and faster until I was probably just a red line forming a ring for those who looked at me with human eyes.

"Let's start the evaluation."

"Evaluation?" I asked Professor Utonium, and stopped in front of him.

"Test your powers. I have a theory that the effect is quite the same despite two separate doses of CX. I want to see if you got the same powers you had when you were younger, or if you may have developed something different this time. A new _special_ power, so to speak. Join me in the backyard." Professor stepped aside to let me walk first.

"What if Liam is up there?" Betty asked.

"Let him watch. Maybe he will think twice before messing with us."

"So I can have a totally unique power that I haven't had before? Just like that?" I asked as I walked backwards in front of him up the spiral staircase.

"No... not exactly... There should be one or two special powers within everyone, we're just going to find out which yours is." He perched his lips a little as he was thinking. "Of course these are just strict speculations. I am the only one in the world with this kind of knowledge about Chemical X and people like the six of you; but that doesn't mean that I know _everything_."

I realized that he meant that I may have my invisibility back, and felt a teasing excited sting in my stomach. I have missed being invisible so much, _and_ it would be useful against Liam.

Brooke was sitting on the roof of the guesthouse looking at me with skeptical eyes as I walked out the door. She snorted by the sight of me.

"We already know that you have the speed." said Professor Utonium, and stood in the middle of the lawn. Irene, Charles, Daniella and Betty stayed on the porch to watch us on a distance. "I was told that you were faster than the others when you were little; we can test exactly _how_ much faster you are tomorrow morning. Right now I want to see if you can turn invisible."

I focused for a few seconds. "Well?" I asked.

"Nothing..." mumbled Professor, and I felt a slight sting of disappointment – on some level I already knew I had lost that ability, but that didn't stop me from being hopeful. "The laser?" Professor asked, and I looked up into the sky, felt my eyes glowing, and shot a red laser straight up into space. "Good." said Professor. "Flying."

_Okay, this is going to be easy!_ I thought.

"Let's race." Betty said playfully and stood next to me. "To the moon and back."

"Alright. Three, two, one..." Professor counted down as he looked at his wrist watch, and Betty darted off into the night sky with a pink glow behind her.

A hundredth of a second later she came back. "What's wrong?" she asked me.

I was just staring at her without being able to say anything. What was the answer to that?

"What happened?" asked Professor, and I looked at Brooke, who curiously looked at me from the roof; she had also noticed that something was wrong.

"It seems I forgot _how_ to fly." I just replied, looking at my hands as if it was their fault.

"What do you mean '_forgot_'?" Brooke hissed from the roof. "Are you sure you took the chemical correctly?"

Without answering, I ran to the front of the house where Charles's truck was parked on the driveway, lifted it up and ran back with it to show that I could lift it above my head. Then I ran back to leave it on the driveway again. I did all of this in less than three seconds, and when I got back to the backyard I looked at Brooke and shrugged.

"Can you hear this?" she put her hand in front of her mouth so I couldn't read her lips. Even though she was at least thirty feet away, I heard her clearly breathe behind her hand: "_Fuck you._" with help from my new super hearing.

I chuckled; I was really gnawing her wigwam; but Betty told her off: "Quit it, Brooke!"

"You can't fly..." Professor mumbled. He pretended he hadn't heard our little dispute. "How? Why?"

"Can it be that I couldn't walk properly?"

"He wasn't completely rehabilitated when he was given the chemical." mumbled Charles and Professor turned to him. "Some signals were still not reaching his muscles from the brain."

"Muscles." said Professor, and nodded. "The chemical _is_ attached to their muscle mass…"

"But nothing was really too off in his spine; it was just a swelling. But he hit his head pretty bad in the forest incident." Charles continued. "I think it could have something to do with the brain waves? I don't know; we don't have the right machines here. Had we done a proper brain scan-"

"A swelling that didn't heal before taking CX." Professor was submerged in thoughts for a few seconds, and when he looked up he looked almost surprised that we were all standing there, watching him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Thank you, Charles, but I'm convinced it has nothing to do with his brain. We will continue the power testing tomorrow. Irene, Charles." Professor started walking toward the house again and Irene and Charles followed him.

Daniella told us she was going to lie down on the couch for a bit, and left us in the backyard.

"What was that all about?" I asked Betty. "What did he mean that the _chemical is attached to our muscle mass_?"

"I don't know." Betty said, shaking her head. "He once told me that he thinks that Chemical X is attached to our muscle mass and that's how we get our powers. Not from our brain; our muscles. That's why we still have to exercise to keep being in shape; since we still can gain weight, but can't build on our muscles."

"Hold up." said I. "_This_ is as big as I will _ever_ get?" I stroke one of my arms with wide eyes. Was I never going to get bigger than this? Okay, I was still strong and looked like it but I was much bigger before when I was on the football team in school. Well, at least I wouldn't get smaller either…

"Yeah, sorry… and that would also explain why pimples and other temporary flaws disappear after taking Chemical X, but scars will remain."

"Are they muscles?" I asked while cringing, and Brooke laughed mockingly behind us. We turned around to look up at her. "What do _you_ know about it then?"

"It doesn't surprise me that you know nothing about us and our origin, or even the human body, to be honest; which is pretty ridiculous seeing you are _Betty's_ counterpart."

"What do you mean?" I asked a little insulted. "I didn't have the same childhood as _you_, you know. No one told us about this stuff."

"I'm not talking about that, you absolute moron, didn't you hear my emphasis? Shouldn't you be incredibly intelligent or something, red?"

"What the hell, Brooke?" Betty asked angrily.

"No, she's right…" I shook my head. "I _was_ smarter when I was a kid, wasn't I? What happened?"

"Antidote X happened." Brooke said snidely.

"I don't know, Luke… Maybe… trauma? I mean…" she hesitated while biting her lip. She sighed and looked like she decided to not tell me whatever it was she wanted to tell me, and said instead: "Trauma can change a person completely. You _are_ smart; more than most people I know", Brooke snorted from the roof, "you just have to find it inside of you again."

I don't know what trauma she was referring to, but I guess she just wanted to be nice. "Thank you, Betty. That means a lot to me." I turned back to Brooke who rolled her eyes at us. "Now tell me what I'm too stupid to figure out on my own. Something about muscles and scars?"

She rolled her eyes again and sighed loudly, almost growled. "It's all about collagen, alright?" she leaned forward while sitting on the roof, resting her arms on her knees with a face only a tired teacher could make. "It's in our hair, in our muscles, in our bones and oh; it's in our skin as well. While the dirt under my nails, and the fat in Betty's ass, and the grease on top of the skin on your face is not made out of collagen, which is one of the main ingredients in Chemical X – the rest of our body parts are. So lo and behold; dirt we wash off, fat we run off and grease we rub off; but scars are forever and so are our muscles. Mic drop. Moron."

The only thing waking me up from the trance I was in was Betty quietly trying not to laugh behind me. I looked at her and she had her hand pressed against her face, and I just shook my head at her. But her laughing made me realize that Brooke's expertise weren't only correct and so very prestigiously executed; she had also burned me; bad; and she had done it in a super comedic way.

It was easy to say that I also started laughing after going through her explanation in my head a few times, Betty was laughing and eventually Brooke laughed with us too. I never knew Brooke had this kind of quick witted humor and bad ass attitude – I had always pictured her as a grumpy, edgy teenage bitch to a cheerleader who loved beating up villains; but I guess I just needed to get to know her better before making assumptions like that again.

"So anyhow…" I chuckled, wiped some tears from my eyes, and exhaled the rest of my laughter. "I have powers now, I can't fly, and I won't get bigger than this, and all of this is because of the estrogen in my body."

"Collagen." Betty corrected me and wheezed.

"Sorry." I tried calming down again. Why was everything so funny all of a sudden? It must be some hormone releasing after a long time of stress and panic. Now that I had powers again I know _I_ felt much safer – maybe the others did too since we were now five against Liam?

"Okay. You can go to bed, Luke; I'll come get you when it's time for you take over for me." Betty turned to Brooke. "You were sleeping two hours ago, right?"

Brooke shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. Yeah, I did."

"Okay. Quick change of schedule to fit everyone; when I go to bed Luke will take my place. And two hours later you need to eat, and shower, and rest, okay, Brooke? Luke can guard by himself for half an hour before I take over for him again-"

Brooke scoffed. "He can't even fly."

"I don't have to." I said scornfully; we were finally getting along and now she wanted to be a bitch again. "Check this out." My eyes started to glow and I shot a red laser in her direction; she just sat perfectly still while the beam missed her face by an inch and continued straight up into the sky and out into space.

"You know that won't help if he really comes here, right?" she muttered. "What if he grabs Professor and flies away with him... what are you going to do then, huh?"

"I can jump."

Brooke shook her head. "It's better I take care of this. I can guard alone for a few hours."

"Stop being so stubborn, Brooke." Betty complained. "I have to sleep, and you two have to clear the air between you. Don't you realize that this is serious?"

"Two hours." Brooke muttered reluctantly. "I'm having one eye on you, baby killer. Remember that."

"Brooke! UGH!" Betty was frustrated with Brooke. She already seemed to have forgotten that she was leaving. That's just how Betty was; she had a hard time leaving things unresolved and felt a strong need for me and Brooke to at least be a little polite to each other before she flew away.

I was too happy to let Brooke ruin this for me. "It ain't no biggie, Betty." I said, jumping up onto the roof (it was unbelievably simple, more than I had imagined) and squatted next to Brooke - I wasn't afraid of her; and I was going to rub it in her face. "Do you want to race, Brooke?" I articulated, to set her off more than trying to be clear.

"Against _you_?" she scoffed and moved away from me. "Please; you can't even fly."

"I bet I run faster than you fly."

"In your dreams!"

"To Canada and back? We will be gone two seconds, tops." I kept baiting her; I knew her, she couldn't resist a challenge when it was given to her.

"Alberta."

"Where's that?"

She glared at me as if I was stupid. "In Canada, you idiot."

"Duh, I meant '_in which direction_', smartass."

"That way." said Brooke, who had started chewing on the inside of her cheek, pointing with her whole hand almost directly to north, a little east. "As the crow flies." was her last, desperate attempt to insult me.

"Three..." I started counting down. "… two... one..." and a hundredth of a second later we were both off.

As I hurried through the woods I laughed to myself that it had been so easy to persuade Brooke to race me; but I assumed she was as desperate as everyone else to just unplug and... have fun for a change.

Or she's just as competitive as I am. Definitely.

I was not surprised that I hardly got wet when rushing across the lake; the soles underneath my shoes just barely graced the surface of the water. I looked up and saw that Brooke was half an inch or so behind and above me; she had started a few milliseconds before me so I assumed I was actually faster than her.

I pushed myself to the limit until we reached the destination that Brooke had chosen, but since I didn't really know where we were going I had to fall an inch behind, as Brooke turned ahead of me without warning.

I caught up with her long before we got halfway back, and when we arrived I slowed down as carefully I could without tearing up the lawn or crashing into any of the houses. I laughed and jumped on the spot when I realized that I had won. "I won!" I laughed while inspecting Brooke's grumpy face.

She breathed as if she had been an ordinary person who had just run a marathon; but I don't think it was because she was exhausted.

I felt a hand on my arm and turned around. "Are you okay?" Betty's pink eyes looked a little anxious at me. She smiled, but it was something about her that didn't look sincere.

"I'm fine!" I replied with a smile back. "Doesn't it seem like it?"

"I mean; are you okay with not being able fly?"

"He's doing okay." Brooke murmured. She had flown up on the roof to the guest house again. "He doesn't need that ability."

"So you admit you lost to me?" I teased.

"I'm neither stupid nor am I a sore loser." she muttered. "But don't push it anymore today, _butterfly_."

"Rematch tomorrow?"

"Six AM."

"Deal!" I laughed and turned to Betty again. "It was absolutely incredible! The power, the strength, the wind in my hair! And this!" I walked around in a circle and pointed to my legs. "I can walk again!"

"I'm so happy for you!" she couldn't help but join in on the laughter.

Without being able to control myself, I pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her on top of her head. When I let go of her the second after, I tried to recover from my sudden act. "Do you want to help me train?"

"Of course." she answered quickly; it was as if she was latching onto _anything_ instead of letting the awkward silence get to us; which it always seemed to do nowadays. "I want to know how fast you are."

"Okay! This time we run to a place further away." I said. "China?"

"Sure!" she said excitedly.

"Just don't let her fool you, Luke." said Brooke from the roof; she didn't seem to have reacted to the embrace at all. "You can run to China in all directions; but there is _one_ way that is the fastest from here."

"How can you know everything?" I asked, but was impressed at the same time.

"Uh, _hello_, why do you think the three of us have the highest marks in Geography? We have been everywhere in the world. We just have to _think_ about a place and we are there."

I banged my forehead in a pretentious gesture. "Right." I said, looking back at Betty. "She's right, which way do we take?"

"Long or short?" she asked with a challenging smile.

"Long, of course."'

"That way." she pointed in one direction and got ready. "Three..." I moved closer to her, stood in the position she did, facing the same direction as her. "... two..." she quickly glanced at me with a crooked, challenging smile. "...one - GO!"

The pink light shot obliquely upwards in an arch toward the black sky as I ran with my red stripe behind me on the ground. I had never been happier my entire life. This was it; this was the highlight I had been longing for as long as I can remember – and I was sharing this with the one person that really meant something to me.

Although I didn't focus on the road in front of me, it was as if everything moved out of the way; like a muscle memory or some kind of instinct that kept me away from running into anything. What I had my eyes on was something much more beautiful than the colors that flashed past me in the forests, the fields and over the mountains; right now I could only see one color… and that color was pink.

**Blossom**  
I resisted the temptation to ask him if he was tired yet; to psych him; but I had neither the time nor the reason to do so because 1) we were almost there, and 2) he was way faster than I was.

"_Finally_. Where did _you_ go?" he teased me when I landed in front of him in a field in the middle of the country half a second after him.

"Lol." I said sarcastically. "Africa?"

"If you want your ass beaten twice in a row that's totally up to you. Three, two, one - go!"

I flew, and he ran in a parallel line directly underneath me, but inch by inch he got farther and farther ahead; even though I pushed myself to the limit and flew much lower than earlier. Once again I landed, this time an entire second after Luke, and this time I didn't care about the ground and tore up a long ditch with my heels.

Here in Africa; or more specifically, Etosha National Park near Okaukuejo, Namibia; the glowing sun had just risen over the horizon and warmed the land. It was probably between six and seven in the morning.

Luke laughed a hundred yards behind me. "Take it easy with your shoes! You'll wear them out!"

"Youre the one to talk, _Ussain_." I teased and flew to him. "May I have a look underneath your shoes, then"

Luke lifted one foot and turned it over to show me the underside of the sole; it looked almost brand new - those were the shoes I bought for him for Christmas and he couldn't walk with them because of the paralysis; but they should have been completely worn out after the races with me and Brooke.

"I have a special way of running, I guess." he said with a smile, shrugging my surprised reaction off.

"You could teach me." I said both surprised and impressed, almost envious.

How many times had I not needed to buy new shoes because I had worn them out too much? On the other hand, I was so used to flying that I never had to think about the running techniques, and had never had in mind to practice them. And when I was jogging I didn't push myself that much, so the jogging shoes didn't need to be replaced that often.

"Sure, I can do that." Luke promised with a wide smile.

Here in Namibia's wilderness his red hair glowed like a fire, and I could spot an almost nutty, brownish hue beneath the dark red shade in his eyes. Like… opal or something, and they were mesmerizing. His skin was smooth except where the long and narrow scar cut across his face; but that didn't affect the dimples on each side of his pale pink lips and cheeks. The right side of his mouth pointed down slightly and the right eyebrow likewise; but there was absolutely nothing that disturbed me ... If anything I had never seen a more beautiful or more perfect and… consummate person in my entire life; and especially now in the deep yellow light Namibia's morning sun cast over him.

A hot breath of wind caught his scent as it swept past his neck, and as it reached me I felt my legs begin to soften. This feeling; the trembling, the sudden nervousness... It was so strong; and it was only another person's scent that affected me this much! I immediately became intensely aware of how lonely we were now; together.

While I was trying to figure out my chaotic thoughts, Luke had been trying to come up with something to talk about; I was not particularly used to these strong feelings so I didn't really know how to proceed. He, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed when he said, "Do you remember saying you'd try to score against me in football?"

I woke up from my pondering and stared at him. "What?" was the only thing that came out of me because I was still thinking about what was hiding inside the thin, long-sleeved, dark gray t-shirt he was wearing.

As an old habit he pulled his hair back with his fingers but let the strands fall down towards his forehead again because he didn't have a cap to keep them in place. "When I could only lie in bed, you know, in the lab? And you said you could score against me, and I said- "

"Yes... Oh, yeah... I challenged you." I mumbled and cleared my throat. "Wanna use the pitch on our school?"

"It's perfect right here!" Luke said with his arms out to the sides to show the area around us. I checked out our surroundings; we had ended up in one of Africa's many nature reserves and here were tall grass, baobab and acacia trees scattered over a large area, and a small lake about a mile away. "There is the goal post," Luke said, pointing to one of the acacia trees closest to us, "and here's the line!" he ran to the tree and pointed to my ditch about thirty feet from it. He looked so excited about our bet; i realized he didn't really _want_ to leave the school team… he had only done that so that he could focus on his failing grades. He loved this sport. "The ball," he tossed a round rock the size of a football at me that I caught, "only needs to touch the ground between the line and the tree, and you get points. Or if you throw it over the line and over the tree. I'll try to stop you. Okay?"

"No problem!" I laughed and immediately started even though I didn't really understand the rules. But the main thing was probably that the rock somehow got across the line.

Had people been watching us they had only seen a pink and a red shining zigzag avoiding and attacking each other forty feet from that tree. Every time I thought I could get past Luke, he was there a microsecond faster to stop me; and the few times I thought i could simply throw the rock he managed to catch it without any problems. I tried to run around him, tried to jump over him, tried to dive under his arms; but he was always ahead of me and blocked the way for me. Even when I tried cheating by flying over him, he just jumped up and snatched the rock out of my hands.

Eventually, I focused on a different strategy; physical touch. I tackled him, pinned him to the ground, used force to really hold him in place, and threw the ball-sized rock the last bit so it ended up inside the touch down. I was so into the game i had forgotten about being shy, so it resulted in me ending up on top of Luke lying on his back underneath me. I laughed and was just about to shout "goal!", but when we locked eyes I let go of everything I had intended to say.

I was speechless for the first time in my life; I really had nothing in my head; no words, nothing. I was completely empty of words, languages, numbers, memories; all that was there were the deep red opals looking intensely into my eyes.

"I, uh, I like your laughter… it's pretty. And when you smile… I mean…" his sudden, slightly insecure and shy smile with deep dimples was what finally did the trick for me; it made him completely, without hesitation, the most irresistible person on earth!

I just. Had. To. Do. It.

My lips pressed against his and he answered the kiss with such force and determination that it was as if this was the moment he had longed for all his life. His hands were sliding through my hair, keeping it away from our faces, found the sides of my head and pulled me closer to him. The kisses got more and more intense and I didn't remember how to stop!

With... my ex… I'd been so careful; because of my superpowers and whatnot. But now I didn't need to be careful, now I could set the beast inside of me free!

This feeling... This thrill; it was like vibrations all over my body that concentrated towards my head, making this pressure form inside of my head, shaping a tunnel vision where Luke were at the end of the tunnel. Even though I had my eyes closed I could feel Luke so perfect it felt like I could see through every pore of my body. The heat overwhelmed me.

I had never felt this way before and I couldn't get enough of it! I knew that Luke was the direct cause of this new and powerful feeling, so he suddenly became vital to me. I was breathing him.

Luke flung himself up, sat up straight with me still straddling him with my legs wrapped around his body, still kissing each other, and gently put me down on my back. Now he was on top of me, between my thighs, started pressing himself even harder against me. I moaned quietly - how did he know this was just the way I wanted him? How did he move so perfectly with my thoughts?

I pulled my fingers through his hair, felt his large, tense arms holding his weight above me, and dragged my fingers down his back. The muscles in his lower back and along the sides were tense to hold him up where he was clamped between my thighs.

"What is it?" he whispered, but continued to kiss my neck.

"What?" I breathed. It felt like I was sticking my head over the surface after almost drowning in a stormy ocean. But it was made out of lava instead of water, so the air felt cool on my face.

"You said _'wait'_."

"Oh... I guess i did..." I mumbled.

Luke stopped, and rested his forehead on my collarbone. "We can wait." he sighed.

"I'm sorry... It's just that..." he rolled off of me and I sat up, he sat next to me on the hot sand which felt cool compared to my body. I noticed that he had managed to unbutton my jeans; maybe that was why I had stopped him? "It's just..." I repeated. "I never... I mean... I am..."

"What?" he asked; had no idea what i wanted to say; it would be too easy to let me off the hook on this one. It was so embarrassing!

"Okay, I've never told you this, I mean when should I have told you? I've never... been with anyone... this way before." I felt my entire face heat up and my stomach tingled.

"You're a virgin?" he asked in surprise. I nodded. "You've never had sex before?"

"No."

"But you've had a boyfriend for over two years."

"I know."

"And before that you were dating this other guy who went to college. What's his nuts... Stan?"

"Yes..." I said, a little annoyed; Luke was the only one who could ask this many questions and not be able to read the room. And I had no desire to talk about my exes with my current boyfriend… Oh, dear God, had I already started a third relationship? Though i couldn't complain; this guy was driving me absolutely insane - the good kind of crazy.

"Okay." he said simply, smiling wider than he had done in a long time.

"Do you think I'm weird?" I asked a little ashamed.

"If anything," Luke said, bent down to look me straight in the eye, "you're even more perfect to me now." he kissed me softly this time and I gently stroke his cheek, following the jaw contours down to his neck with my fingertips as he rested his lips in the pit between my eye and nose. "The heat..." he chuckled quietly.

"Yeah, it's very hot here." I agreed.

"You have no idea how much you affect the weather, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Luke looked at the tree we had used as a goal post; smoke came out of the trunk, and it looked darker than before. "That is your work."

"Did I almost set that tree on fire?" I exclaimed.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they mention a record-breaking heat wave on the local news here later today; and that was nothing compared to you."

"Did I get warm?"

"You were hot." Luke smiled widely and winked.

I picked up on his not so well hidden innuendo, and smiled back as I rolled my eyes, put my fingertips to his jaw again and sighed. What an incredible feeling I had just experienced - and just like the last time I kissed Luke I affected the weather! This was indeed something extra; now I think I understand why my sisters were dating the other two brothers; this must have something to do with us. This unexplainable passion.

I didn't want it to be that simple; I didn't want to love Luke only because I _had_ to, but isn't that at the same time what people want? Haven't people in all centuries said that they and their partner were made for each other? Brick was literally made for me. If you ask _me_; I think that is the most romantic thing I've ever heard.

Now i finally understood why I had previously suspected that my sisters love their counterparts more than I had loved-

Dainton.

Something dark immediately took over all my thoughts; I can't believe I had just forgotten all about him like this. He had been such a big part of my life, and even though he wasn't always a perfect boyfriend he was still a good person. We had been together for two years when this desiring chemical inside me started to crave for Luke, and after all this time I had always been destined to end up with him… It wasn't fair to Dainton. Not one bit.

Of course all of this were only speculations (about us Powerpuffs and our counterparts in general); heck what are teen hormones even made of if not unrealistic passion, sex and drama?

My phone started ringing. Back to reality. I had to face palm myself again - I had totally forgotten about Liam and the danger we were currently in!

_'Dainton'_ was the name on the display.

I hesitated to answer. He was the last person I wanted to talk to right now, but I knew I couldn't ignore his call; he knew what was happening around me and my family right now so he wouldn't call me if it wasn't urgent. And that just worried me even more - what would be important enough to call me about right now?

"I'm sorry, I need to take this." I said before I clicked on answer on the cellphone and put it to my ear. "Hi, Dainton." I said straight up without letting the emotions take over. I knew Luke heard everything but I tried not to feel guilty.

"_Betty_." Dainton's voice sent a chill down my spine, my body suddenly felt freezing cold and my heart started jumping and banging. Dainton had sounded nervous, scared; as if he had a hard time to breathe. "_Liam is here._"


	12. Ch11-The curious case of Liam Berger

This is going kind of slow, but I hope you all can be patient with me. I'm working on a lot of things at the same time, but I'd love to finish this so bare with me.  
I wanted to mention my followers to this story, and give them a little shoutout: **  
K2Lover2226  
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**And the favorites:**  
K2Lover2226  
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**And lastly** K2Lover2226 **who was the first to comment!  
Hadn't it been for you, and the other people reading this, I wouldn't have kept uploading this story here. Thank you all for reading and commenting, following and favoriting!

:)

* * *

**The curious case of Liam Berger**

**Butch**  
I was bored again, so I felt like experimenting a little further. It had taken almost exactly half an hour for the Powerpuff girls to find out I had been at their grandmother's last time, but how long would it take for them real time? How quickly would rumors spread _while_ I was on the site? I had already planned everything after what I had read from the various articles on the Internet - that Harvard would throw an Open House gathering today on the tenth of January on a Monday night.

Now all I had to do was finding Beatrice's boyfriend Dainton Hannigan, and he was pretty easy to find given his... unique look. Those big eyes and sticking out ears and lanky, skinny body… Truly novel for this time and age.

He stood at a booth inside the Uni's assembly, wore a white hooded shirt with a dark red shield that had a large white capitol letter H on it; and a pair of black glasses. His dark blond hair stood up straight on his head and he smiled widely at the young visitors who might start college next year.

I just walked straight up to the booth, received a brochure that he smiling gave to me, and I smiled back when his eyes fixated on my face, and was shocked to discover who I was. "So, what major do you think I should pick?" I asked him politely.

The people surrounding us didn't react as strongly as he did; even though I had pretty greasy hair, a big camouflage jacket and a pair of black dirty jeans with a pair of grayish brown - formerly white - tattered basketball shoes. But of course... it wasn't my clothes he reacted to.

I raised one eyebrow as to question him for not responding, but he just stared, couldn't utter a word. "Oh, maybe someone else could answer that for me? Your girlfriend, for example, maybe you could call _her_ and ask?"

"Call? Betty?" he breathed. He was scared shitless and it made me smile even wider.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Call Beatrice and tell her I am here and need answers to my questions about this school."

Dainton slowly pulled his cellphone out of the front pocket of his jeans and pressed the display with shaking fingers. He glanced at me, as if to make sure it was okay that he was going to call her, but I just nodded with a polite smile. He brought the phone to his ear with a vibrating hand and I heard the ringing as he made the call.

"_Hi, Dainton._" I heard her answer her phone.

"Betty…" he said shakily, looking up at me with glossy eyes. "Liam is here."

**Blossom**  
The second Dainton finished the sentence I landed in front of the assembly hall building; almost the only one that people walked in and out of. "Where are you?" I asked into the phone.

"_Inside the assembly_." Dainton answered and I flew in.

It didn't take long before I found him. "Where's Liam?" I asked instantly. I ignored the stares I got from the people surrounding us, and the flashes that began to light up in my periphery - people started taking pictures of me as if I were an animal at the zoo.

"He was just here." said Dainton, looking around at all the people, trying to find a familiar face. "I was looking at him the whole time…"

"Can we talk somewhere else?" I asked, putting my hand to my face to block my eyes from the flashes. I had no desire to end up on anyone's social media right now.

"Okay." Dainton reached out his hand automatically.

I took it and flew away with him. We landed on the roof of his dorm building, and a blue light flashed in the sky and landed in front of us. It was Leo. "What's going on?" he asked quickly, ready to leave if it was a false alarm. Luke had told Brooke who in turn probably had told Leo and Becca about the phone call. And if I'm right about Brooke then she probably forced Luke to stay with her to protect Professor – that's why neither she nor Luke flew to aide me in the search for Liam.

"Liam was here." I replied.

"Today?" Leo asked, looking from me to Dainton.

"He was here a second ago." said Dainton, looking at Leo with big eyes - I had apparently forgotten to tell him that he had his super powers back. "But he disappeared just when Betty arrived."

"I didn't notice his scent over there." I said to Leo. "Can you search a little while I talk to Dainton?"

Leo nodded and flew back the way we came from. I turned to Dainton who immediately told me everything. Liam had talked to Dainton for a few seconds, pretty much, before he called me, and after that he was just gone.

"I can't figure out what he's after..." I muttered.

"But he's gone now, right? And he actually didn't do anything." said Dainton.

"That's not the issue... Now I have to keep an eye on you too."

"Keep an eye on me?" Dainton asked inexplicably and I told him about Grandma. "So it's serious, huh?" I nodded. "And you think he can come back?"

"We can't risk anything at this point."

"And Professor – he'll be less protected now that you need to spread out?"

"I suppose… but you don't have to worry, Dainton. I'll make sure you won't get hurt." I cringed from my clumsy choice of word, but now it was already out there.

"Sure..." he looked down and kicked the roof we were standing on.

Leo came back without any leads and flew back to Charleston and Becca and Grandma, and Professor called me to discuss the new plans.

**Brick  
**The air was tense again; now their Grandma wasn't the only one who had been visited by my psychopathic brother anymore; but also Betty's ex boyfriend, whom she now had to spend more time with. Sure, I realize that she had no choice and that she was not hanging out with him for any other reason than that he was as unsafe as the rest of us; but I still couldn't avoid that dark cloud and the burning feeling of jealousy. I knew I was being ridiculous, but all the time while Betty was away to guard him, I was thinking about how they were talking to each other about the recent events; maybe Betty happened to go a little deeper into her feelings, and got upset… perhaps Dainton would want to comfort her, pat her cheek and kiss her tears…

My stomach was cramping up, and I had to force myself not to think about that. I just had to suck it in and pretend like I didn't care.

**Professor**  
It felt like it took more than three geniuses to solve our riddles; another night passed, and Charles left the house without us getting any closer to a conclusion. He asked Luke for a ride home to their new house on the other side of the lake at one in the morning, while Irene and I stayed down in the lab. I walked around, wondering what we had learned during the evening - Luke didn't have the ability to fly even though it seemed completely absurd. When Betty, Becca and Brooke's classmates got hold of CX more than ten years ago all of them could fly (as if the pillars of the chemical were speed, strength and flight); and one of the kids was even wheelchair-bound since birth.  
Luke was born with Chemical X in his blood, and he got Antidote X just a couple years after that... The agent blocked his powers; which temporarily kept them away.

So why can't he fly?

What _is_ Chemical X and what is Antidote X? And _where_ were their powers really rooted? It didn't matter how much I had tried, throughout my daughter's whole existences – I couldn't seem to be able to open Pandora's box; I couldn't solve the biggest mystery of all - what makes Chemical X Chemical X and how does it give people super powers?

"You're doing it again." Irene's hands started rubbing my shoulders. I appeared to be sitting down on my office chair.

"Hm? What?" I grunted with my fingers so tightly pressed on my mouth I could barely open it; I had previously been leaning towards them with my elbow on the desk.

"Does your tongue hurt?" her words felt incomprehensible, but the statement was true, and I nodded. "When you think deep into something you roll your tongue inwards and almost swallow it. Do you recognize that?"

"How do you know that?" I asked her and turned on the chair.

Irene sat down in my lap and started stroking my face with her fingertips. "My grandfather did the same thing, and he eventually had to amputate his tongue." I leaned back to look at her with a frown. She began to giggle. "Just kidding!"

"Oh..." my mouth twitched into a smile. She was just trying to lighten the mood a little; nobody likes being tense all the time, and my tongue actually felt very exhausted and stiff. It was probably something I did without thinking about it. "You got me."

"Well, time for the bed." she gave me a kiss on top of my head, stroke her stomach and got up. "Good night."

"Irene?" I mumbled, but got a stomach ache just from the thought of continuing my question.

She stopped and turned to face me. "Yes?"

"I've noticed something... different..."

"What's different, John?"

How do I begin? How do I phrase myself? How do I ask her? I came to the conclusion that there was no easy way to ask the question, so I continued in the same path as before, and it was being confusing as usual. "Yeah, you have started... you have..." I sighed. "Is there anything you want to tell me? Something I need to know?"

Irene stared at me with her ice-blue eyes without saying anything, but after only a couple seconds she slowly shook her head. She smiled affectionately. "I'm just tired. Are you coming to bed soon?"

She avoided my claim when she didn't ask me again what I meant with _something different_. She hid something but I knew I couldn't force her to tell me; if she _really_ wanted me to know she would've told me a long time ago, so I just smiled back.

"I'll be with you in a minute. I'm just gonna…" I started touching my things on top of my desk. "… wrap this up."

"I'll keep your side of the bed warm for you." she said with a smile and walked up the stairs.

**Buttercup**  
As usual, when it was my turn to sleep, I just lay on top of the sheets listening to all the noises around me. My whole body was aching and I knew it was due to insomnia; my body screamed for sleep and so did my head. My eyes felt dried up and somehow sharp like needles every time I closed them, hurting my eyelids, and my brain felt muddy. I had never felt so bad in my entire life and I had never been so angry. The only thing I could think of was a way to get hold of Liam, and how I would kill him, just end everything. It was _my_ fault my family was in danger, so it was _I_ who needed to take care of him when he arrived, and I was not going to be the one sleeping whenever he did.

My whole body jerked as I woke up, sweat dripping along my back and forehead. I sat up on the bedside after what felt like hours later. I had managed to doze off again for a few minutes and once again I woke up from him wheezing into my ear. A faint scent lingered in the air for a few extra seconds – _his_ scent… I thought I would get used to the nightly visits but I didn't. They felt so real, but at the same time… they couldn't be... it was all in my head.

A car turned off the freeway and into the intersection, it turned right, toward Forestville. Now it had only two paths to choose from, so either it would come to us, or keep driving through the forest town leading towards the mountains. As it drove onto the dirt road to our residential area I heard a police radio and two men who were breathing excitedly. They were on edge, as if they had a mission they were super eager to solve.

I flew out of bed and stood on the driveway outside our house.

"Who is it?" I heard Luke's voice ask me from the roof. I understood he wasn't used to listening to small details such as police radios and tire markings.

"It's a police car," I replied, "but it's not from Washington."

"How in the world do you know that?"

I took a deep breath. "It has permanent summer season tires. It comes from a state that doesn't have snow." I answered monotonically and continued to stare into the forest while waiting for the car. I knew it was coming for us.

"Then they've come a long way to get here."

"Mm... Looks like there won't be a rematch race this morning."

Luke glanced at me from the side, and I thought I saw a faint smile. "No, it seems so."

At the same time, the front door was opened and Professor walked out. "Ah, that's the Texas police. They called me yesterday telling me they would visit us. I had completely forgotten to tell you."

"Texas?" Luke landed softly beside me, with his back to Professor to stare out into the dark forest.

It was six in the morning and it was pitch black outside – what kind of meeting couldn't wait until later in the day?

"They're not alone." I said as I heard a bunch of other vehicles drive off the highway and towards us. They sounded heavier, like patrol wagons. "It's an entire force. What's going on?" I asked turned to Professor.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking worried.

"Should I get Leo or Becca?" asked Luke, who felt the tension in the air.

"They're not looking to hurt us." said Professor.

"And it wouldn't matter – they won't be able to do anything anyway." I said.

The beams from the first police car I had previously heard lit up the forest and the road ahead of it, and when it came into view I saw the license plate with the words "Texas" in big white letters, and "The lone star state" underneath the registration number.

"Go to the back, Luke. Hide if you have to and stay quiet - it's still a secret that you guys have superpowers. " said Professor quietly, and stood beside me with one hand on my shoulder; probably in an attempt to calm me down. Luke walked into the house and out the back door. "And you behave, Brooke." Yeah, that's exactly what that gesture had meant.

The Texas cop car rolled up toward our driveway and stopped, but the headlights didn't turn off even though the engine was turned off. Two police officers stepped out to look at us. "Utonium?" asked the officer who had been driving. He had light hair and looked to be between forty and forty-five years old. He was wearing a black leather jacket and a pair of light, durable jeans.

"Yes, that's us. How can I help you, officer?" said Professor. I was impressed with how calm and sensed he sounded.

"That's the Professor." the other police whispered, thinking I wouldn't hear them. He was younger than the driver, tall and slender, and had dark hair and dark eyes. He reminded me of the young, nervous cop who had once put his hand to his weapon outside our door when I thought they were going to arrest me for beating Liam up. Ugh… I should've killed him back then. "Who is the girl next to him? Is that one of them?"

"_One of them_?" I asked aloud without even bother to be discreet. "Excuse me? Please, get over here and talk to me instead of whispering about us. I can assure you that we are not dangerous. Jesus Christ."

"We, uh... we're awaiting a few more people." replied the driver with the leather jacket.

I sighed; there was no idea trying to persuade them to come to us. But why were they so scared of me? Did they think I was going to hurt them?

After a minute or so, three carbon black armored vans rolled towards us and stopped about sixty feet from the house. None of the drivers turned off the engines, and everyone left the headlights on, pointing directly at our house.

I looked back at Professor and he put his hand in front of his eyes since he was dazzled by the lights, and I just rolled my eyes to show him that he didn't have to worry. But I guess he didn't anyway; who can protect him better than me?

"What's going on?" Irene opened the door and looked out at Professor with sleepy eyes.

"Don't worry, honey. We're taking care of this; they just want to talk."

"Okay. I'll brew some coffee."

She closed the door behind her as the first two policemen finally dared to approach us, and the driver reached out to Professor. "Officer Richard McFadden, FDPD, Texas Police. This is my partner William Hardin." They both showed their badges and Professor shook their free hands. "We are here to ask some questions about a body found near the Jumano reservation outside of Fort Davis."

"Did we know this person?" I asked, releasing his hand after shaking it, which fortunately was right on time – the second after I clenched my fist so hard his fingers would've been crushed in my iron grip.

"We don't know, but we found this next to the body." Officer McFadden pulled out a small bag from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and showed it to us. Tightly sealed in the bag was a photo... of Betty and Becca. The piece where I had previously been, to the left of Betty, looked torn off. "Can we come inside?"

"Yes... of course." said Professor, in shock, and opened the door. He waited for the officers to enter first. "The living room is straight ahead. Please, take a seat. My wife is making coffee."

"What about them?" I asked, nodding to the police army in the armored cars.

"Don't mind them – they're only backup. Thank you." Richard McFadden walked into the living room with William Hardin behind him, and Professor and I followed.

**Blossom**  
It was six in the morning and my turn to rest. That also meant it was Luke's turn to guard Dainton even though he wasn't going to originally – but Brooke refused to leave Forestville. I just hope Dainton won't notice the switch… What if they would start fighting each other? It had been an uneventful night, but it would still be nice to crawl under the covers for a few hours. I am too tired to think about this stupid triangle drama right now.

When I reached the edge of the yard Luke ran silently towards me in the woods to prevent me from going any further, and the immediate sense of anticipation and euphoria that blossomed within me disappeared as I saw his facial expression. "The Texas police are here." he murmured out of sight of the house.

"_Texas_ police?" I asked.

"They have found a body near a reservation where my family and I lived. There was a picture of you and Becca next to it."

"God dammit – he is everywhere!" I wailed. "And, what the fuck – he killed someone?" I remembered the black frame I had found in the bushes outside Grandma's house when we were there the other day. The photo was gone, a photo of me and my sisters. "Wait, wasn't Brooke in the picture?"

"I didn't see much, I was standing behind the chimney – but it looked like someone had ripped her out. I could only see you and Becca." Luke answered and looked at me seriously. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, my head is spinning right now... When did they get here?"

"Only couple minutes ago."

"Come on; let's hear what they're saying."

I landed silently behind Brooke's and Becca's house, and we climbed in through Brooke's window which was always open, and sat on her bed - from here we could hear everything they were talking about from inside the house.

"_... the cause of death is unclear, but it seems that all his intestines have gone down to the lower region._" said one of the men.

"It's McFadden." whispered Luke. "Him and his partner Hardin went inside. Whole front yard is packed with every police in Townsville."

"_To his lower region?_" asked Professor.

"_As if they were all, somehow, gathered in his stomach – heart, lungs and all._" said McFadden. "_I've never seen anything like it in my eighteen years as an officer._"

"_And you think it was one of my sisters?_" Brooke asked.

"_Unfortunately, we have no other suspects. But we're not here to point fingers, Miss Utonium, we just want to ask questions._"

"_Do we know who the man was?_" it sounded like Professor was scratching himself somewhere, maybe his beard or under his nose. A page from a newspaper rattled and it sounded like someone was receiving it, followed by a moment of silence as if they read the article. "_Aaron Clarke? Who is that?_" asked Professor after ten seconds.

Luke tensed up and whimpered next to me in the bed. I watched him staring straight ahead with his mouth open – something changed dramatically in his eyes.

"Who is Aaron Clarke?" I repeated Professor's question.

"Do you remember that guy who was friends with Liam when we lived in Texas?"

"His friend that died?" I asked, and Luke nodded. I gasped. "Isaac Clarke! Is he related to Aaron?"

"_Clarke – that name sounds familiar._" Professor said from inside the house. We listened so intensely it was almost like he was in the same room. "_Wasn't there an article about him in the newspapers a few years ago?_"

"_You've probably heard of his little brother Isaac Clarke_?" McFadden said, and Luke and I looked at each other. "_He was shot in the torso, July two thousand and eight, and bled out shortly after from the injuries. Him and at least one other person; we believe his older brother; broke into a man's private home in Mentone outside Fort Davis, but unfortunately Isaac lost his life. The man was found next to him on the porch - murdered, beaten to death. Tire tracks a couple feet from the stairs leading up to the porch indicated that they left the property by car._"

"_Yes, I remember. I read that article._" said Professor with a deep sigh. "_A horrible, horrible incident_. _Perhaps this is out of my civil competence to ask... but why do you think there was a photo of my daughters next to Aaron Clarke's body?_"

McFadden also sighed. It sounded like he didn't really want to tell Professor about their case, but knew he had to because it was _the_ Professor Utonium's daughters - the most powerful people in the universe - that he suspected of the murder of Aaron. "_Aaron Clarke wasn't an ordinary boy growing up; he was a Native American who lived in the Jumano reservation with his father and younger brother, Isaac. When Aaron was seventeen, the father died, and he was involved in one of the most dangerous gangs in Texas; which not much later became by far the most dangerous all around the southern states. They were dealing drugs, murdered and raped, and they threw secret underground fighting matches with other gangs. We strongly believe Isaac followed in his brother's footsteps two years before his death in July, and he had a best friend we never really had a clear picture of... one who was not Native American._"

I looked at Luke staring out the window in front of us. We both knew who Isaac's friend was; I had already heard this story and Professor knew it too, but none of us had had any idea that Liam and his friend had been _involved_ in one of Texas's most dangerous gangs. On Luke's facial expression to judge, he had not known anything either – only that a gang possibly had been chasing him.

Fort Davis Police apparently knew much more than we did; we had only graced the top of the iceberg. How much did they dare tell us today?

"_This... friend... moved up here shortly after Isaac's passing._" McFadden said.

"_And you think that the friend may have been involved in the breaking-in in Mentone?_" asked Professor.

"_Yes and no._" replied McFadden. "_Maybe his parents moved because they wanted him to start over. And where on this entire planet is it safer to live than in the city of the Powerpuff girls?_"

"_It surely would be safer to live here." _Professor agreed._" Who is this friend? Maybe we can help you._" He said, surprisingly believable; as if he actually had no clue.

Someone awkwardly squirmed in their seat; it sounded like jeans were wrinkled against a couch and a leather jacket crackled against the backrest. McFadden was the one to answer again, as if his colleague had no voice in this case (or he probably didn't know as much as McFadden did): "_You probably already know him... But I don't want to point fingers, he can't possibly have anything to do with Aaron's murder. They moved so soon after Isaac's passing two years ago that we _had_ to shut down the suspicions about him... He was a pretty good kid... just a little unlucky._"

"_Who was it?_" Brooke pushed impatiently.

"_His name is Liam Berger; formerly Butch Jojo. But as I said-_"

"_We're not going to bother him and his family._" said Brooke quickly. "_And to add to the suspicions; they moved back to Texas again._"

"_They did?_" a whole new voice asked for the very first time. That must've been McFadden's partner.

"That's Hardin." whispered Luke next to me, instantly answering my question.

"_At least that's the last I heard of him._"

"_Did you know him well?_" McFadden asked Brooke.

"_We went to the same school..._" It seemed that she decided not to lie – it would only take a second for them to find out everything between her and Liam anyway. That was probably what the other police men were doing in the vans this exact moment. "_We, uh, dated for a while... but we broke up when he found out they were moving._"

"_Tell me more about him._" said Hardin, a little too excited. "_Did he ever say anything about his time in Fort Davis? Did he behave secretively? Did he ever make you feel confused?_"

"_Will…_" McFadden mumbled.

"_He never really talked about Texas._" murmured Brooke. "_He lived in the moment... the only thing he ever mentioned about that time was a tattoo he had._"

They were all silent for a few seconds again... the excitement. It was as if Brooke had revealed something important, and I was sure we could all feel it. Oh, I wish I could see McFadden's face!

"Did you know he had a tattoo?" I breathed, and I knew Luke would hear me. He shook his head slowly as he listened to everyone's slightly panting breaths.

"_A tattoo, you say?_" McFadden asked, genuinely curious. "_What kind of tattoo?_"

"It was a red devil's head." said Brooke. She trembled a little, probably because she felt bad about talking about Liam.

"_Where was this red devil's head placed? What part of his body?_" McFadden kept asking, Brooke didn't answer. "_Miss Utonium; it is of the utmost importance that you speak the truth now._"

"_On the back of his neck._" she said.

"_About this devil..._" Hardin continued. "_Was there any kind of signature somewhere? Or any word at all? A single letter?_"

"_The devil had a black capitol M in its forehead. What does it mean?_" she asked while I heard the leather in McFadden's jacket cracking again; as if he was stretching himself on the couch; as if he felt they had answered everything and were ready to leave any second.

McFadden responded with a somewhat husky, but final voice: "_It means that_ _we've probably found Craig Hopkins's killer._"

**Professor**  
"Now you wait here a second! Are you telling me that _my daughter_ has been dealing with a cold blooded murderer? _My_ daughter?"

"We have no proof, Professor Utonium, but with this new information we can now _suspect_ Liam had at least one throw of the dice that night in Mentone two years ago. If they moved back to Texas on top of that, chances are he contacted Aaron Clarke the other night." said McFadden, shrugging his shoulders. "Perhaps they were in a quarrel, maybe they got into a fight… The photo of your daughters is torn apart." he pushed forward the bag with the photo with one finger and forced me to look at it again. "I believe he saved the piece with _her_ on it." he nodded towards Brooke, who was sitting next to me. "Do you see now how everything seems to be connected? Now we even know that he dated her at one point; of course he'd save the part of the photo she was in."

"But why would he leave it by the body?" Brooke asked, pointing to the part of the photo of her sisters.

"Probably to make us suspect one of them." said Hardin. "The act was quite complicated and advanced. It doesn't look like the work of an ordinary person; he wanted a superhuman to be suspected."

"Will." McFadden warned his partner.

William Hardin pretended like he didn't hear him. "Professor Utonium, are you missing something from your lab? Perhaps some kind of formula? A bottle of something, maybe?"

"You do not have to answer that, Professor." McFadden turned to Hardin. "Do you know the word _classified_? I could explain it with the word _suspension_ if you can't shut your mouth." Hardin sucked his teeth in a pretend '_I am so scared_'-manner, and McFadden turned back to Professor, Irene and me. "Thanks for the help. We will take care of the rest." said McFadden, drinking the last of his coffee. "This coffee was delicious. Thank you so much, Mrs. Utonium…" him and William Hardin stood up, ready to leave.

"Have you forgotten who the hell I am?" Brooke asked suddenly, getting out of her armchair. She leaned forward with both hands on the coffee table between them. "There is nothing called _'classified'_ when it comes to us."

"It's okay, Brooke." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let them do their job." He quickly looked back at them again and stood up. "Thank you, officers."

Brooke looked rebelliously at me, but she quickly understood that we needed to stay low - after all, we knew more than they did. What would happen if the rest of the world found out that Liam; who was already suspected of murdering two people now; to top it off, had regained his superpowers and threatened the only three people who could stop him? Though it sounded like they already believed that he had superpowers, but that only meant we were on the same page.

She relaxed and extended her right hand to McFadden. "Thank you then. I'm glad we were of some help at least. I'm gonna prepare for school now... we're done here?"

McFadden shook Brooke's hand and nodded. "Yes, that's all. Again, thank you." Brooke shook Hardin's hand and flew out the back door. McFadden reached for my hand. "Thank you, Professor Utonium, and I apologize for this early visit. Can I ask you; where are the other two?"

"Uhhh..." I only had time to say before Betty and Becca walked down the stairs dressed in pajamas. I assume Luke had been quick to get them both.

"We stayed upstairs, but we heard everything." said Betty.

"Sorry, officer, but it wasn't our intention to eavesdrop." said Becca. She looked at me with frightened, glossy eyes.

"We've got the answers we were looking for." Said McFadden, shaking their hands. "And I apologize so much if we made it sound like we suspected you of murder."

"Just tell us if you ever need any help at all." said Betty.

"Anything." Becca assured him.

"Then we hope to see you again soon." McFadden fired them a wide smile and backed out through the open door into the hallway.

"Oh, by the way, Professor Utonium." said William Hardin, turning to me again; McFadden stopped and looked at him, but I couldn't really tell if he looked tense, bored or frightened; but something told me that McFadden was mentally trying to stop his younger partner from saying something stupid. "I have to congratulate you on the marriage, and it was nice to meet both you and your wife." Hardin lowered his voice slightly, and I couldn't remember if he had blinked once since he started talking. "We apologize so much for being here at this early hour; next time we'll plan this meeting much more carefully." with those words he nodded and closed the door behind him.

Next time? Something told me Hardin had made it his life's work to stop whatever he thought me and my family were up to. Perhaps he was one of those people who were opposed to me and my daughters because what I did was "_absurd_" and "_unnatural_"… I know I shouldn't care about what other people thought, but my daughters are and will always be my biggest achievements - of course I got offended when a protester shouted words like "_failed lab experiments_" and "_abominations of nature_" after them… They are my daughters, for crying out loud. No parent should be hearing words like that.

"I have to go back to Grandma." Becca said the second the doors to the police car were closed with two loud bangs. "Her flight's been postponed again; she won't be here until tomorrow morning."

"Again?" I sighed. "We'll probably have to take Dainton to us." I said, turning to Betty. "We have far too few supers here."

"Supers?" Becca asked.

"People with superpowers." I explained and rolled my eyes like it was definitely not the first time I used that expression... I hadn't just been thinking it to myself, had I? I'm pretty sure I called them supers right before I gave Luke the chemical…

"I won't go anywhere at least." protested Brooke. "But that was really dorky of you, Professor..." she mocked me with a crooked smile. "_Supers_…"

"You're going to bed." I said without caring about her comment. "You too, Betty. I guess Luke's with Dainton?"

"Oh!" moaned Betty.

"I'm on it!" we heard Luke say from the back door. Only five seconds later Betty's phone rang and she answered. It was Luke, and he told her everything was okay over there.

"Alright." I turned to my daughters. A jolt of nostalgia suddenly struck me when I looked at them; it had been several weeks since I had all three of them in front of me, gathered. "Becca, you need to fly back to Grandma, Leo, and the kids. Betty; you should lie down for a while and Brooke… you will have to wait for a few more hours, I'm afraid."

Becca flew out the front door but Betty stayed behind. She looked at Brooke. "I'm not going to sleep very long, okay? You'll get some sleep soon."

"Yeah, whatever." Brooke just said and flew out.

**Brick**  
I dialed the number on the go, checked out my surroundings for a few seconds before pressing _'call'_. I told Betty that the coast was clear and then hung up. A clicking noise sounded underneath me as I stood on top of the roof of Dainton's dorm, light rushed out the window and lit up the lawn covered with snow outside the house. Before I could check what time it was Dainton screamed from inside his bedroom.

_No! No, no, no, no, fuck, fuck, fuck Betty will never forgive me if anything happens to him!_

As my thoughts spun and my blood pumped, I jumped down from the roof and grabbed the window sill below Dainton's window, I opened it and smoothly jumped into his bedroom. I looked around like a madman, fully prepared to stand face to face with a pair of dark green glowing eyes.

Dainton stood in the middle of the room with the ceiling light on, just staring at me in surprise as he held one of his slippers firmly between his hands. "Luke? What are you doing here?"

"I heard you scream." I said quickly.

Dainton moaned, looking angry, and pointed with his slipper to his nightstand. "I was on my way to the bathroom, but when I reached for my glasses there was a spider crawling all over them..."

I looked at the bedside table and saw a small black spider wedge across the surface and hid underneath Dainton's bedside lamp.

"Oh..." I mumbled, began feeling embarrassed. "Then you're not in danger, at least." I turned to jump out the window again but was hindered by Dainton's voice.

"You didn't answer my question." Dainton pointed out, he sounded nervous. "What are _you_ doing here?"

My heart was galloping as I turned to face him again with a nervous smile. "Betty needed to rest... so I took over for her."

"Took over for her? What do you mean _took over_ for her? How is that even possible?"

"Yeah, uh... They gave me my powers back..." I remembered the nickname Professor had used for people like me; _Supers_. It was actually pretty catchy.

Dainton just stared at me; as if he didn't know how to respond, while shaking his head in disbelief. He then sighed. "She said Brooke would take the mornings... And why do you have superpowers all of a sudden?"

I realized that Betty hadn't talked to Dainton about me. "They gave me Chemical X for good behavior, I guess." I tried to make a joke, Dainton didn't look at all amused. "They needed help keeping watch. We've spread out and needed two supers in Forestville at all time."

"So they gave you Chemical X? _You_, of all people?"

I frowned and started chewing the inside of my lip, but I took a deep breath to calm down. "It's because I have had powers before and knows how everything works. Had it not been because of that, _you_ would probably have been the one receiving CX instead of me."

"It's probably better to have babysitters." muttered Dainton.

"Believe me, I got them back only because I've had them before and can help. They wouldn't have time to teach a normal person how the powers work, and he wouldn't have time to try to learn them properly. We simply don't have the time for mistakes right now."

"_More_ mistakes, you mean?"

I didn't answer but shrugged, pretending I agreed with him. I almost rolled my eyes to his petty innuendo, but I didn't want to anger him any further. I had done enough.

Dainton sighed. "Well, as you can see – I am fine. I need to go to the bathroom now." For the second time when I tried to leave through the window I was called back again. Dainton chuckled quietly behind my back. He sounded pissed. "So you and Betty, huh?"

I shuddered. I'd been hoping that Betty would have been right about him not noticing that I was replacing Brooke; but karma doesn't work that way. Of course I just _had_ to have this conversation right now. "Yes..." I muttered and turned around again.

From nowhere I was reminded of Betty's lips, and her hands, and her thighs, and the whole incident in that national park last night, and wondered if my face revealed anything. I discovered that my vision was blurred as I tried to remember every second of it and my body started feeling like overcooked pasta… except for one part of my body a little lower down. But even though I didn't reveal anything on purpose, it was just childish to lie about it. First I needed to focus on the conversation I had in this moment – I realized it was difficult doing it by myself. Wait… was I talking to someone? I was very comfortable here in my own thoughts.

Dainton shook his head. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Finally I snapped out of it. "What?"

"Stealing someone else's girlfriend. Even mine. "

"Hey, Danny..." I said, but wished I hadn't called him that – we were not friends anymore. "It wasn't my intention at all to fuck you over like that."

"Then, please, enlighten me. Betty didn't want to explain shit."

"So how did you know that we-"

"_That_ part is crystal clear – that she's with _you_ now. I just can't fathom, for the life of me, how you managed to fool her to fall for someone like you."

"I don't know what she said to you," I said cautiously, choosing my words wisely, "but I didn't manipulate her or anything. I was _just_ as surprised as you are that she actually fell in love with me."

"You kissed her." Dainton accused me.

"I never expected anything more than that, dude. How was I supposed to know that a girl who is dating a much better guy than myself could be converted by a single kiss? I actually thought we would leave whatever we did out there in the forest behind us, and never talk about it again. I didn't mean to give her any ideas." I tried to remember that day, tried extra hard to remember her face before kissing me. "She actually looked pretty pissed right before I kissed her." I said honestly. "So I never expected anything else from her."

"Fuck you…" he mumbled while slowly shaking his head at me.

"I _was_ going to apologize for my behavior but she kept giving me hints that she liked me back. I didn't want to believe it, but to be honest I was constantly hoping my suspicions would be true. But never that I encouraged her in any way." I wrinkled my forehead. "At least I _think_ I didn't…"

"So you don't feel even a little guilty about ruining someone else's relationship?"

"Of _course_ I feel bad about it! But I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't worth it." it was best to stay painfully honest. "Not that you got hurt, man, that sucks. I'm really sorry about that. But for _me_ – I am glad I did it. I owe you an apology, Danny," _oops_, "for meddling in _your_ relationship. But I didn't do it to personally fuck up your life or anything... It wasn't like I was plotting against _you_... I fell for a girl who you also happened to like… and I guess I was lucky."

Dainton smiled a fake smile. "_Lucky_." he snapped sarcastically, nostrils flaring.

"It was _totally_ insensitive of me not to talk to you about it first..." I shook my head. "I should've asked you how you're doing... How you're holding up."

"How do you _think_ I feel? The love of my life left me for my best friend!" Dainton growled.

I backed up a little even though I wasn't worried about what he could do to me physically. "Surely we weren't _best_ friends?"

"Yeah, well, duh, that's evident." he said angrily. "At least you got what you wanted. She chose you."

"It's her choice." I agreed. "I'm going to protect you with my life despite everything. I still consider you my friend, Dan."

"We are _not_ friends." Said Dainton through his teeth.

Without saying another word I turned around, climbed out the window and jumped up to the roof again. A gush of wind passed and I trembled - it was chilly outside, but the guilt felt worse inside me than what the wind did. Had I made the right choice? Was I going to burn in hell for stealing a girl from another guy? That shouldn't be the real issue here. It wasn't like she was a cig you passed around to your buddies – she was her own person, and you can't force someone to love you when they so clearly don't, and probably never even had.

**Blossom**  
Charles and Daniella would have been over for breakfast this morning like they usually were, but since the police were still lurking the area, they had to wait for a few hours and arrived at lunch instead as the police had moved on.

"It's so strange, though, that they stayed around for so long, it's not like you wouldn't notice that they were keeping track of you, I mean." said Charles after chewing a piece of bread he had to the tomato soup Irene had made for lunch. "And it's only a matter of time before they'll come over to our house."

"You're only on the other side of the lake, and it's no surprise they would start interrogate the neighbors about us." said Irene. "Maybe it's better you stay away for a few days?"

"We'll think of something." said Charles, and looked at Daniella; he seemed to feel guilty about what she had to go through.

Daniella... so kind and innocent... what had she ever done to the world? Now she had to be scared of her own son - a boy who wasn't her biological child; a stranger she had once let into her home, into her life, with open arms as if he _were_ her own.

I was fuming, but Professor interrupted my thoughts: "You could just stay here; you can take our bedroom and we'll sleep in the living room."

"Oh, no, John, it really ain't necessary. It's already so crowded here and Liam is _our_ problem, not—" Daniella started but Irene interrupted her.

"We're in this together, Daniella; all of us. And you are much, much safer here in our house."

"You can have my bedroom; I don't mind sharing rooms with one of the others." I thought about Luke's room and my stomach started to tingle, but it would have been more appropriate if I bunked with Brooke, I guess.

"It's gonna be alright." said Professor, looking at Charles and Daniella. "You two stay here. And Betty…"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Do you think you can get Dainton here? There is still bed downstairs in the basement and we... considering what the Texas police told us today..." Professor squirmed, and drew a trembling breath. "I just learned that there is a very dark part of Liam that… I don't want us all to be separated anymore; I want the whole family here, and I know you don't want Dainton to get hurt. Of course, I wouldn't want that either."

I already knew this was coming. No one except Luke and Becca knew I had ended the relationship with Dainton. The truth was that I still cared about him - I mean; it's pretty obvious, isn't it? I still gave two years of my life to him, and although I love someone else more, I would always care about Dainton. He would always hold a part of my heart.

I nodded.

So back to that triangle drama… How was Luke going to act around Dainton? Would Dainton behave around Luke? Ugh... I can't even picture it. This _mundane_ problem makes my stomach cramp up – I was being ridiculous for feeling bothered by this!

"Good..." Professor turned to Mr. Berger. "I don't mean to sound like I am accusing you of _anything_ at all… but I need to ask you, Charles; did you know all of this about Liam? And his friend; Isaac Clarke?"

Charles looked at Daniella who looked back at him; both genuinely upset, but at the same time they looked as if they had always known that this day was coming - the day when they would have to reveal their biggest secret.

"We suspected that Liam was there that night, or rather; we probably even _knew_ it but pretended he wasn't." Charles said. "We had the proof right in front of us but we didn't dare to... believe it." Daniella's eyes went blank as she stared into the wall in front of her. Charles patted her on her shoulder and continued: "He started seeing Isaac Clarke when he was thirteen years old, and since that day they were inseparable. Isaac, or Cricket (his nickname), was a Native American boy from the Jumano reservation, and he was like any boy at the age of fourteen. He occasionally lived in our house and we offered him food, they made lunch bags for themselves, and then the boys were off on their adventures. In Fort Davis, in the middle of nowhere, there isn't much to do for two boys that age; but they constantly tried out new ideas and explored the desert around the town. Back then, of course, we didn't know who Isaac's older brother was, but we knew exactly who Diablo was."

"Diablo?" asked Professor.

Charles nodded. "He was the leader of this infamous gang from the Jumano reservation; Mohawks. You see, had we known he was Cricket's older brother, Liam would never have been allowed near that family."

"Wait; Mohawks?" I exclaimed. "That's what he named the basketball team!"

"We know..." sighed Charles. "And we didn't think anything of it. At least _I_ hoped he'd stick with that name because he thought it was cool, and I feared it would only get worse if I tried to scold him for it."

"The boys were exploring the desert." Said Professor. "How did they go from that to join a dangerous gang?"

Charles answered: "Liam frequently skipped school to spend time with his new friend, and after a year together he barely returned home. He could be gone for days and the police were constantly chasing after him, and they were constantly asking us about him and we never knew where he went. Liam was no longer himself, and we don't know what made him join that gang… I mean… he was a teenager, he was bored. We never saw the tattoo, but somehow we knew it was there." Charles sighed as something dark began to spread in the outskirts of his eyes, he continued: "Early one morning McFadden paid us a visit with his colleague Hardin. See, this wasn't the first time they were there. They had visited us every other day for eight weeks straight, and the questions were almost always the same…" Charles looked at his wife and then back at Professor. "I'm so sorry, John, that I held this a secret… but Liam's powers are much stronger than you think."

"How much stronger?" Professor asked.

"This mind control power we believe he has – it is very much real. And it is strong."

"How much stronger?" Professor repeated his question.

"Richard McFadden and William Hardin came over every other day for eight weeks straight with the same questions because… Liam erased their memories…"

The silence that followed was so blatant the room started feeling cramped, frowsty.

"Erased their memories?" I asked. "How… is that even possible?" I asked Professor.

He shook his head and shrugged, kept looking at Charles; seeking for answers.

Charles also shook his head with open mouth. "I don't even know if it's because of Chemical X or… if it's because of Him, the devil… But something truly evil hides inside Liam, and we," he put his hand on Daniella's shoulder again, "did our best to try and raise him properly. We sensed something was very wrong early on, but we thought… _I_ thought I could take care of him by myself. I realize now I should've just contacted you, John. Asked for your help." He cringed, braced himself for telling us something difficult. "I… I thought I could handle Liam, I thought I could be as brilliant as you."

Professor quickly shook his head. "I understand." He simply said. "There is no shame in that. He was your son – there was no doubt you wanted to take responsibility as a father. You have to forgive yourself, Charles, and you also have to forgive me, since this is my fault – not yours."

"What are you even talking about, John? How could this possibly be _your_ fault?"

"I created the girls, and I created the hatred a chimpanzee feels for me – the same chimpanzee that made the boys to stop them, and in turn also to stop me. I was the one that decided they were stable, and I was the one that put all the responsibility on your shoulders."

"You read my journal, you picked me."

"You were the best one." Said Professor. "You still are, Charles, but it wasn't fair to you and Daniella to shove such a huge untested problem on the two of you. Leo and Luke turned out just fine, but I wish I had asked myself more questions twelve years ago… I should've asked myself if I was a hundred percent sure it was safe to give them a normal home."

I pressed my fingers against my temples as I look at everyone in the room. The rest of us – Irene, Brooke, and me – all had the same helpless, shocked expression in our pale faces.

"I can't let you take the blame." Said Charles.

"And I can't let _you_ take the blame. Therefore we need to put this behind us and start to think forward instead to stop him." Professor had never been this serious his entire life – at least not what I had seen. "But to do that I need all information you have on him. Everything. From the second you first saw him – what did he look like, how did he react when he first locked eyes with you – to the second you last saw him. First of all, though, I want you to tell me what happened that time McFadden and Hardin visited you that early morning."

Charles sighed, rubbed his eyes and face and looked at Professor with blood shot eyes. "They told me that they had found a man, murdered on his own porch with a rifle in his hand, and only a couple feet from him was Isaac Clarke's body." His voice started trembling, and Daniella let out a sob. "The man's safe stood wide open inside the office, but there was no indication that it had been broken into with violence, but all valuables were gone. The cops came to us before going to Isaac's big brother, but that was because they already knew he wouldn't care... and they were probably too cowardly or too naive to note at the time that Aaron was as involved as Isaac was... It wouldn't surprise me that he had forced his younger brother to carry out the burglary of the old man." Charles's voice trembled so much now that the words were barely audible, and his face began to shift in red; the memories of that day haunted him. Daniella sobbed next to him but said nothing. "You see... We knew Isaac wasn't treated well in his brother's trailer home. Their father died in his sleep – he passed out drinking and never woke up again, and Isaac's four years older big brother didn't even manage the economy at home... So that summer we planned to offer Isaac a home with us. Perhaps this in turn could lead Liam's behavior to clear up as well. If they lived together, they might both be home more often and thus stay away from stupidity, far away from the reservation."

Charles took a break to bury his face in his hand, and when I looked up again he wiped away a few tears from his eyes. Daniella patted her husband on the arm. They had really been attached to that boy…

Charles sighed deeply, patted Daniella on the cheek and then turned to us again: "But back to that morning… I seem to wander off from the subject…"

"Take your time." Said Irene.

"Thank you." Charles took a deep breath. "McFadden and Hardin had only had a taste of their coffee when the door opened and Liam booted in after a long night. Daniella went to meet him in the hall and I followed. She had taken off the cap he had previously had on his head to hide something."

"He had that hair style..." murmured Professor. "Was that something they did?"

"That was the final sign of being a core member. He had passed the crucial test." Charles nodded with tight lips. "He had managed to murder a man."

I gasped, Irene inhaled but didn't seem to know how to breathe out, and when I looked at Brooke she looked disgusted. She had her eyes directed to Charles but she didn't really look at him.

"He was only sixteen years old..." Daniella sobbed, and Charles put his arm around her. Irene, sitting on the other side of Daniella, took her hand.

"He talked about Mentone." We all turned to the doorway. Brooke had decided to join the conversation. "Or... He said that's what the M stood for; Mentone, and that it was an older guy who lived there who made that tattoo." she leaned against the door frame with crossed arms and laughed while biting her lip. She looked pissed. "Of course he lied to me... Everything was a lie... did he ever tell the truth? Was anything ever real?"

I was at her side in a fraction of a second, and led her toward the kitchen couch that stood against the back wall behind the kitchen table. Her eyes watered and she cringed a little, putting her hands to her stomach as if something was burning her insides.

"We must go to Him." she muttered quietly. "We need to put a stop to this."

"I was thinking I would bring Luke to Russia after you've rested." I said quietly.

"Take Luke right away." she looked at me with blood-shot eyes; the skin in her face looked tense, pale and thin; her pupils stared straight at me, through me. "I'm ready for him when he comes."


End file.
